London: UK-based Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) luxury carmaker Wednesday announced a major investment plan of £ 15 billion over five years, backed up by a Gigafactory planned by Indian parent company Tata Group in Europe.
JLR Chief Executive Adrian Mardell confirmed plans for the company’s plant in Halewood, north-west England, to become an all-electric production facility as he reaffirmed the firm’s commitment to the Reimagine strategy, which will reposition the luxury car manufacturer as an electric-first company by 2030.
He also revealed that JLR would be the anchor customer of the Tata Group’s proposed Gigafactory, an announcement related to which he said is “hopefully imminent”.
“JLR will not be building a Gigafactory; that is not within our plans. Tata will be building a Gigafactory. We are clear it’s going to be in Europe. A final destination hasn’t yet been chosen,” Mardell told reporters at a media event in Gaydon, the company’s base in the West Midlands region of England.
“The important thing is our underpinning of [battery] supply is inhouse… we are the anchor customer and absolutely have equity in making sure that the right decisions are made. Wherever it [factory] goes will be an optimised proposal for us,” he said.
The company, which utilises the Tata Group’s software capabilities in Bengaluru, and has a vehicle and assembly plant in Pune, reiterated its commitment to work closely on its synergies with the parent group.
“We, as an anchor customer [of the Gigafactory], will benefit from frictionless collaborations within our ecosystem in the Tata family. It means that we can explore and develop the latest advanced battery technologies in-house,” noted Barbara Bergmeier, Executive Director, Industrial Operations, at JLR – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Limited and part of Tata Sons.
Accelerating its “electrification path” by making one of its UK plants geared towards the next-generation medium-size luxury SUV architecture fully electric and moving towards a net zero carbon target by 2039, the company said it is making strides towards its financial goals of achieving a net cash-positive position by the financial year of 2025.
JLR confirmed it would start inviting applications for client orders for the modern luxury all-electric Range Rover 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 in the UK.
As a next step within the Reimagine strategy, it was revealed that JLR would move to a “House of Brands” approach to amplify the unique character of each of its brands – Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar.
“Land Rover” will be transformed into a so-called “trust mark” for the Land Rover models within its luxury suite as a pillar supporting this new branding vision.
JLR’s Chief Creative Officer, Professor Gerry McGovern, explained, “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,” McGovern added.
The company also announced that the first of three reimagined modern luxury Jaguars would be a 4-door GT built in Solihull in the West Midlands. With power output more than any previous Jaguar, a range of up to 700 km (430 miles), and indicative pricing from GBP 100,000, the new Jaguar will be built on JEA, its unique architecture. The design is being kept strictly under wraps for now, with more details to be released later this year before going on sale in selected markets in 2024, with deliveries slated for 2025.
“With Range Rover, the original luxury SUV, available for pre-order in pure electric form later this year, and the first of three breath-taking electric reimagined Jaguar models to be launched in 2025, we are stepping into an incredibly exciting new electric era for JLR as a modern luxury business,” added Mardell, who took over as CEO at the end of last year.
PTI