The Jaguar I-Pace is made in Austria. (Image via Bloomberg)

Automotive: Jaguar Land Rover Will Build Electric Cars

Kinanty Nadia Putri
Business & Industry
Automotive & Equipment
Jun 30, 2019
1703
Jaguar Land Rover is reported to announce its plan next week to build electric cars at the central English Castle Bromwich factory.

According to the Sunday Times, Britain’s biggest automaker is planning to make an all-electric version of XJ luxury saloon, which will be the first one to be made from a common skeleton of its three new vehicles. The second one will be sport utility vehicles.

Earlier this month, German’s BMW also announced that it will have a joint electrics motors, transmissions and power electronics development with Jaguar Land Rover, which the alliance designed to lower the cost of developing electric cars. Both carmakers have been under-pressure to roll out zero-emission vehicles but said to have struggled in maintaining profit margins due to the high cost of making electric, connected yet autonomous cars. Therefore, the shared development will save costs of production planning and the cars component purchasing.

BMW board member Klaus Froehlich added that the joint development will provide a great opportunity for the two companies to shorten the development and bringing the art technologies of the vehicles more rapidly to the market, which he believes will cater customer needs more effectively.

Despite sharing the development of the electric cars, but BMW and Jaguar Land Rover will produce the electric drivetrains in their own manufacturing facilities.

Since Britain has been hit by job cuts and falling sales in recent months due to decreasing demand for diesel vehicles and Brexit uncertainty, the electric cars development plan would be a rare bright spot for the country.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jaguarlandrover-britain/jaguar-land-rover-to-build-electric-cars-at-uk-factory-report-idUSKCN1TU0YB

Jaguar , LandRover , Automotive , ElectricCar , Business , Britain