JLR to invest £15 billion to accelerate its electric-first future

UPDATED: JLR has announced plans to accelerate its transition to become the world’s leading modern luxury car manufacturer revealing its Halewood plant, in the UK, will become an all-electric production facility and its next generation medium-size SUV architecture, electrified modular architecture (EMA), will now be pure-electric.

JLR’s Chief Executive Officer Adrian Mardell (pictured) reaffirmed the business’s commitment to its Reimagine strategy, which will reposition the company as an electric-first, modern luxury carmaker by 2030, as JLR makes strides towards its financial goals of achieving a net cash positive position by FY25 and double-digit EBIT by 2026.

Mardell said, “Two years ago, we launched our Reimagine strategy and since then we have made great progress, including launching two new critically acclaimed modern luxury Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models, joining the Defender family, for which there is record demand. We achieved this while navigating the headwinds of the pandemic and chip shortages, and successfully ramping up production of our most profitable models to deliver profit in Q3.

“Today I am proud to announce we are accelerating our electrification path, making one of our UK plants and our next-generation medium-size luxury SUV architecture fully electric. This investment enables us to deliver to our modern luxury electric future, developing new skills, and reaffirming our commitment to be carbon net zero by 2039.”

Investing in next generation electric models. Announcing news of its next generation electrification roadmap, JLR confirmed it will start to invite applications for client orders for the modern luxury all-electric Range Rover from later this year. The first of its next generation medium-size modern luxury SUVs will be an all-electric model from the Range Rover family, launching in 2025 and built at Halewood in Merseyside, in a move that further affirms JLR’s commitment to the future of the UK car industry.

And while EMA will now be electric only, as the trend to electrification in certain markets increases, JLR will retain the flexible modular longitudinal architecture (MLA) on which Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are built offering internal combustion engine (ICE), hybrid and battery electric vehicle (BEV) options. This gives JLR uncompromised flexibility to adapt its vehicle line up to meet the needs of different markets around the world, that are moving at different speeds towards carbon net zero targets.

House of brands. As a next step within the Reimagine strategy, it was revealed JLR will move to a House of Brands approach, to amplify the unique character of each of its brands – Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar – and accelerate the delivery of the company’s vision, to become proud creators of the world’s most desirable modern luxury automotive brands for the most discerning clients.

Commenting on the House of Brands approach, JLR’s Chief Creative Officer, Professor Gerry McGovern OBE said: “Pivotal to our Reimagine strategy is the formation of the House of Brands, which is a natural evolution, with a purpose of elevating and amplifying the uniqueness of our characterful British marques. Our ultimate ambition is to build truly emotionally engaging experiences for our clients that, over time, will build long-term high equity for our brands and long-term sustainability for JLR.”

JLR also announced that the first of three reimagined modern luxury Jaguars will be a 4-door GT built in Solihull in the West Midlands, UK. With power output more than any previous Jaguar, a range up to 700 kms (430 miles), and with indicative pricing from £100,000, new Jaguar will be built on its own unique architecture, named JEA.

Investing in JLR’s UK industrial footprint. JLR revealed that its Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, UK, currently producing Ingenium internal combustion engines for its vehicles, will have an electric future producing electric drive units and battery packs for JLR’s next generation vehicles. It will be renamed the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre to reflect the move.

In positive news for the future of the historic Castle Bromwich site, JLR confirmed that its stamping facilities that prepare pressed body metalwork for JLR’s vehicles will be expanded to play a key role in the company’s electric future, by providing body work for next generation electric vehicles.

Asset Finance Connect comment: Asset Finance Connect’s auto finance community leader David Betteley commented, “The announcement to axe the Land Rover brand isn’t a major surprise as Range Rover, Discovery and Defender, as sub-brands of Land Rover, have been positioned as brands in their own right for some time now. Land Rover has a rich heritage as an ultra-capable go-anywhere vehicle but also a vehicle that is somewhat utilitarian. This was perfect for the “old” Defender that went out of production in 2016.

“However, this utilitarian heritage is somewhat confusing for Range Rover and to a large extent Discovery owners who buy their cars because they offer “modern luxury” and, indeed, new Defender owners who buy the vehicle because of its “lifestyle” characteristics.

“I own a Defender from the last week of production and also drive a new 23 plate Defender so I feel well positioned to comment on this matter!

“I think that the three brands – Range Rover, Discovery and Defender – have all benefitted from the considerable investment that JLR has made in them individually and, in my opinion, they are more than strong enough to stand on their own.

“I wish JLR much commercial success with this new strategy and like many other people, both inside and outside the industry, I can’t wait to see the new Jaguar cars in 2025.”