Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said on Wednesday that it will spend £15 billion over the next five years on its industrial footprint, vehicle programs, autonomous, AI, and digital technologies, and people’s skills.
The company also plans to turn its Halewood plant in the UK into an all-electric production facility. Its next generation medium-size SUV architecture, called electrified modular architecture (EMA), will now be pure electric, the company said in a release.
The plan is in line with the company’s Reimagine strategy, which will reposition the company as an electric-first, modern luxury carmaker by 2030. This will help JLR reach its financial goals of having positive net cash by FY25 and double-digit EBIT by 2026.
Adrian Mardell, CEO of JLR, gave an update to the world’s media at the company’s Gaydon headquarters. He said, “We launched our Reimagine strategy two years ago, and since then we’ve made a lot of progress. For example, we’ve added the critically acclaimed Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models to the Defender family, which is seeing record demand.” We were able to do this despite the pandemic and chip shortages, and we were also able to increase production of our most profitable models so that we could make money in Q3.
“Today, I’m happy to say that we’re speeding up our move toward electric cars by making one of our UK plants and the next generation of our medium-sized luxury SUV architecture fully electric. With this investment, we’ll be able to bring our modern luxury electric future to life, learn new skills, and stick to our promise to be carbon neutral by 2039,” he said.
The luxury carmaker also said that its Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton will soon start making electric drive units and battery packs for JLR’s next generation of cars. In light of this change, it will be called the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre, according to a press release.
JLR said that it will start taking orders for the modern, all-electric Range Rover later this year. The company announced its next-generation electrification roadmap at the same time. The first of its next generation of medium-sized luxury SUVs will be an all-electric Range Rover that will come out in 2025 and be made at Halewood in Merseyside. This shows that JLR is still committed to the future of the UK car industry.
As the next step in the Reimagine strategy, JLR will move to a “House of Brands” approach. This will amplify the unique character of each of its brands—Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar—and speed up the delivery of the company’s vision, which is to create the world’s most desirable modern luxury automotive brands for the most discerning clients.
Professor Gerry McGovern OBE, JLR’s Chief Creative Officer, said this about the House of Brands approach: “The House of Brands is a natural progression that is central to our Reimagine strategy. Its goal is to elevate and amplify the uniqueness of our distinctive British marques.” Our ultimate goal is to create truly emotionally engaging experiences for our clients that, over time, build long-term high equity for our brands and long-term sustainability for JLR.
JLR also said that the first of three modern luxury Jaguars that will be redesigned will be a 4-door GT made in Solihull, which is in the West Midlands of the UK. The new Jaguar will be built on its own unique architecture, which is called JEA. It will have more power than any previous Jaguar, a range of up to 700 km (430 miles), and a starting price of around £100,000. Later this year, more information will be released about the new 4-door GT Jaguar. It will go on sale in some markets in 2024, and customers will get their cars in 2025.
“We have completely rethought Jaguar as a luxury brand for the 21st century. Professor Gerry McGovern OBE said that the designs of the new Jaguars show that they are not copies of anything.
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