JLR plugs $669 mn into retooling UK plant for production of electric SUVs

By Jamie Nimmo

Jaguar Land Rover plans to spend £500 million ($669 million) retooling one of its factories in England that’s poised to start manufacturing electric SUVs.

The maker of Range Rover and Land Rover vehicles already has invested £250 million in its Halewood plant, near Liverpool, over the last 12 months. The company said in a statement Thursday that it will double its expenditure over the coming years and reiterated that the facility will eventually be its first to go all-electric.

JLR cautioned last month that its push into EVs will cost more than initially planned, citing weak consumer demand and the need to keep developing combustion-engine and plug-in hybrid models for longer. The Tata Motors Ltd.-owned company now plans to spend £18 billion over five years to create electric options for all its models by the end of the decade.

Carmakers across Europe have tapped the brakes on their EV plans amid waning consumer demand and as countries including Germany and Sweden have slashed subsidies. Volvo Car AB earlier this month abandoned its target to sell only fully electric vehicles by 2030, roughly mirroring Mercedes-Benz Group AG’s retreat from a similar goal in May.

The Halewood factory was originally opened by Ford Motor Co. in 1963. It’s been producing key vehicles for JLR in recent years, including the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport. The manufacturer is gearing up to start making medium-size electric sport utility vehicles at the plant alongside combustion-engine and hybrid models.

JLR hasn’t set a date for when hybrid or combustion engine-only vehicles will end at Halewood. The company announced in February that it had pared back the number of fully electric Land Rover models planned by 2026 to four, from six.