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Struggling luxury car brand Jaguar says it will phase out internal combustion engines in a plan to go fully electric by 2025.
- Jaguar Land Rover hopes the move will help turn around the fortunes of the 86-year-old brand
- The more profitable Land Rover brand will produce its first all-electric model in 2024
- The move has been welcomed by British Transport Secretary and the Prime Minister
Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Motors, hopes the move will help turn around the fortunes of the 86-year-old luxury brand.
The switch to an electric future will involve moving car production from JLR's Castle Bromwich factory, east of the central England city of Birmingham, to nearby Solihull.
Chief executive Thierry Bollore said the firm was "exploring opportunities to repurpose" the Castle Bromwich plant, leading to speculation it could be used for battery production.
Jaguar Land Rover also said the far more profitable Land Rover brand would produce its first all-electric model in 2024 as it, too, phased out internal combustion engines.
"We have all the ingredients at our disposal to reimagine the business and the experiences our customers seek, to reimagine to benchmark of luxury," Mr Bollore said.
The move has been welcomed by British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps as "a huge step for British car manufacturing". UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also backed the move.
LoadingThe Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the British car industry's lobby group, said the announcement represented "an injection of confidence" in the sector, which had suffered during the coronavirus pandemic.
"[The company's] roadmap to a future that is built around sustainability, with electrified and hydrogen models as well as investment in connected and digital technologies, aligns with government ambition and increasing consumer expectations," SMMT's chief executive, Mike Hawes, said.
However, he said the UK needed to improve its competitiveness in light of the "fierce" global competition going on in the shift to electric cars, not least from the likes of Tesla.
"Government must ensure advanced manufacturing has its full support, with a policy framework and plan for growth that reduces costs, accelerates domestic battery production and electrified supply chains, and incentivises [research and development] and skills development," he said.
AP