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Jaguar Land Rover set to build electric cars in UK
LONDON, July 6, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has
decided to produce a range of electric vehicles at its central England
factory, it announced Friday, securing thousands of jobs in a major boost to
post-Brexit Britain.
“Jaguar Land Rover today revealed plans to manufacture a range of new
electrified vehicles at its manufacturing plant in Castle Bromwich, UK,” the
Indian-owned group said in a statement.
The first car to roll off the production line at Castle Bromwich, which
currently employs 2,500 workers, will be the next-generation all-electric
Jaguar XJ luxury saloon model.
“It’s a huge step for (the) very prestigious, special premium-luxury XJ
production in Castle Bromwich,” JLR Chief Executive Ralf Speth told AFP in an
interview.
The facility in Birmingham, Britain’s second biggest city, will produce
the electric vehicles as part of a “huge” electrification investment that was
“in the billions”, Speth said.
The news is a welcome fillip for the nation’s largely foreign-owned car
sector, which has long warned over the impact of Britain’s looming departure
from the European Union at the end of October.
– ‘Future is electric’ –
Batteries will be made in neighbouring Hams Hall, Warwickshire, while
electric motors will be manufactured at JLR’s engine plant close to the
nearby city of Wolverhampton.
“Today’s announcement, which safeguards several thousand jobs in the UK,
is the next stage in execution of Jaguar Land Rover’s electrification
strategy,” JLR added.
The group aims to offer electrified options for all new Jaguar and Land
Rover models by 2020.
“The future of mobility is electric and as a visionary British company, we
are committed to making our next generation of zero-emission vehicles in the
UK,” added Speth.
The investment, praised as “trailblazing” by Britain’s biggest trade union
Unite, follows an agreement for employees to work a four-day week as part of
restructuring plans.
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“This is a proud day for our members and Jaguar Land Rover,” said Steve
Turner, Unite assistant general secretary for manufacturing.
Cardiff University professor Peter Wells cautioned that Brexit was
probably not a major factor in JLR’s decision, given its existing UK
manufacturing operations and declining consumer demand for high-polluting
diesel cars.
– ‘Not really Brexit related’ –
“The company is constrained by what they’ve got… it’s not really a
Brexit-related decision,” Wells told AFP.
“It’s more an issue that has been forced upon the company, perhaps faster
than they had wanted.
“The market is changing across the world quicker than many car companies
have anticipated, so in that respect the company was essentially forced to
invest in the UK — even though it’s not perhaps ideal in terms of reaching
those key European markets.”
Britain’s auto sector warned last week that a no-deal Brexit could cost
UK-based carmakers up to o70 million ($89 million, 78 million euros) daily
through delays to production.
JLR, which launched its first electric vehicle I-PACE last year, is
meanwhile late to develop its strategy for the segment.
“It is not alone in being late … but certainly, given that the Nissan
Leaf has been out for many years now, and Tesla has been making waves for
some time in the kind of segments that Jaguar and Land Rover operate in, then
clearly there is concern,” Wells said.
“It’s not so easy to ramp up the production of electric vehicles at this
point because of concerns over supply — the battery technology and the
materials needed.
“They have an electric model but I don’t see that they will be able to
produce a high proportion of electric vehicles across the range for quite
some time,” added Wells, noting particularly strong competition from German
carmakers like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Volkswagen.
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