By Nick Carey
(Reuters) – Jaguar Land Rover’s car range will be fully electric by 2030 as the carmaker joins a global race to develop zero-emission models to get ahead of looming bans on sales of new fossil-fuel vehicles.
JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, said on Monday the Jaguar brand will lead the way with a fully-electric model range built on a brand-new electric platform by 2025.
Land Rover will launch six pure electric models in the next five years with the first one coming in 2024, JLR added.
JLR said that as it electrifies its model range, it will keep all three of its British plants open.
But Thierry Bollore, who took over as chief executive in September, said the carmaker’s Castle Bromwich plant in central England would focus on “non-production” activities in the long term. He provided few details.
JLR said it will spend around 2.5 billion pounds ($3.5 billion) annually on electrification technologies and development of connected vehicle services.
Shares in Tata Motors rose as much as 3% after the announcement.
The plans come as car groups worldwide pursue zero-emission strategies to meet stringent CO2 emission targets in Europe and China. A number of countries have also announced bans on new fossil-fuel vehicle sales – in the United Kingdom that ban should take effect in 2030.
In November, luxury car brand Bentley Motors, owned by Germany’s Volkswagen, said its model range will be fully electric by 2030.
Last month, General Motors Co said it aimed to have a zero-emission lineup by 2035.
The carmaker said it was a “on a path towards” a double-digit operating profit and positive cash flow and aims to achieve positive cash excluding debt by 2025.
JLR said it aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its supply chain, products and operations by 2039. ($1 = 0.7193 pounds)
(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Patrick Graham and Keith Weir)
