Tamil Nadu likely to be hub for Tata Motors-JLR's electric vehicle exports

Tata Motors is working on multiple options at the plant, where it plans to invest Rs 9,000 crore over five years

Tata Motors Group is likely to make Tamil Nadu a hub for exporting electric vehicles (EVs) based on the Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA) from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), sources close to the development said.

While finer details around the models are not known, sources revealed that these could be JLR models made in India for export as well as Tata EVs based on the EMA architecture.

This comes on the heels of French automaker Citroen exporting EVs made in India to international markets.

Citroen commenced the export of 500 units of Made in India ë-C3 electric cars to Indonesia from Kamarajar Port near Chennai in April, becoming the first multinational carmaker to do so.

In March, Tata Motors signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government to set up a manufacturing plant in the state. It plans an investment of Rs 9,000 crore over five years, potentially creating up to 5,000 jobs.

Responding to Business Standard queries, Tata Motors said it is working on multiple options at this juncture and nothing has been finalised.

A company spokesperson said: “On March 13, 2024, Tata Motors Group signed a facilitation MoU with the Tamil Nadu government to explore the setting up of a vehicle manufacturing facility in the state. We are working on multiple options at this juncture and nothing has been finalised. The execution is subject to various factors, including receipt of approval by the board of directors of the company and execution of binding agreements between the parties.”

According to sources, the production will be split between Tata Motors EV and JLR.

“Tata Motors is eyeing to build the Tamil Nadu plant as an export hub. Unlike internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, in the case of EVs, it is at par with its global peers in terms of technology. Therefore, the idea is to pivot around this and focus on exports of EVs,” said a source close to the development.

The Tamil Nadu government, however, did not comment on the project details.

EMA and the Jaguar Electrified Architecture (JEA) will be introduced from 2025 by JLR as it moves to an electric-first business with all its brands offering pure electric options by 2030.

JLR also has the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) that underpins Range Rover Electric and enables ICE, mild, and plug-in hybrid powertrains.

JLR is in the middle of reconfiguring its production plants, transforming its global facilities to deliver this all-electric future.

For example, in the FY24 annual report, Tata Motors said that the Solihull plant in the UK is being reconfigured to produce pure electric MLA models. Halewood in Merseyside, UK, will be the company’s first all-electric manufacturing facility. The Slovakia plant will also be updated to produce electric vehicles by 2030.

As for ICE vehicles, JLR’s facility in Pune already makes completely knocked-down (CKD) units of Range Rover Velar, Evoque, Jaguar F-PACE, and Discovery Sport. It has now added Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.

JLR posted an 81 per cent jump in retail sales in India to 4,436 units in FY24. It was one of the company’s best performances in the Indian market since its launch in 2009.

Globally, wholesale volumes were up 25 per cent in FY24 to 410,303 units, while retail sales were up 22 per cent to 431,733 units.

Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM), the EV arm of Tata Motors, has already launched products based on the indigenously developed pure EV architecture and acti-ev architecture, like the new Punch EV.

Avinya will be TPEM’s premium pure electric vehicle series based on JLR’s EMA platform.

“JLR and TPEM have entered into an MoU for access to the EMA platform, including the electrical and electronic (E&E) architecture, electric drive unit (EDU), battery assembly, and manufacturing know-how for a royalty fee. Access to JLR’s EMA platform will help accelerate TPEM’s entry into the high-end EV segment while reducing development cycle time and costs,” Tata Motors noted in its FY24 annual report.

• TPEM sales in FY24 – 73,844 units, up 47.5%
• JLR global sales in FY24 – 401,303 units, up 25%
• Tata Motors hardly exports PVs now
• PV business achieved the highest-ever volumes of 573,541 (including EV) in FY24
• PV exports in FY24 - 2,542 units
• Citroen has started exporting made-in-India EVs since April from TN plant

With inputs from Shine Jacob