Jaguar Land Rover to spend £3 billion more on revamp in slow EV shift

Jaguar Land Rover plans to spend a further £3 billion ($3.8 billion) in its strategic overhaul as the British maker of luxury SUVs reacts to the slower global shift to electric vehicles.

The manufacturer of Range Rover and Land Rover vehicles said it’s increasing planned investment to £18 billion over five years to support its strategy of having fully electric options for all its models by the end of the decade.

The higher spend is partly due to slower EV demand. This means JLR will have to keep developing internal combustion engine and plug-in hybrid versions for longer in some markets “given the global transition to battery electric vehicles is going slower and more globally patchy than many expected," JLR Chief Financial Officer Richard Molyneux said.

“We’re learning from others that have gone before us, making sure our powertrains are perfect," he told analysts on a call.

Automakers are grappling with a slowdown in demand for EVs that has compounded higher costs across the industry. Last month, General Motors Co. and Porsche AG became the latest to rein in their EV ambitions following weaker demand for plug-in models.

In February, JLR walked back the number of pure electric Land Rover models by 2026 from six to four.

Despite the EV slowdown in some parts of the world, JLR’s new Range Rover Electric continues to generate strong global interest with 41,000 sign-ups to the wait list, the company said.

The company warned it will see “constrained production" in the next two quarters due to floods at a key aluminum supplier. Porsche, BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG have also been affected.

JLR’s increased investment comes as its Indian parent, Tata Motors Ltd., reported a first-quarter profit that beat estimates on strong SUV sales.

Net income for the three months ended June 30 at the Mumbai-based company surged 74% from a year earlier to 55.7 billion rupees ($665 million), slightly better than analysts expected. First-quarter revenue advanced 5.7% to 1.08 trillion rupees, but narrowly missed analyst estimates.

JLR, which makes up nearly three-quarters of Tata Motors’ revenue, said pretax profit jumped 59% to £693 million, while its revenue rose 5.4% to a first-quarter record £7.3 billion.

Market Share battle

Tata Motors has been in a market share battle with Hyundai Motor Co. in India to be the country’s second-largest automaker, behind Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Tata’s bigger lineup of electric vehicles and its popular SUVs have helped it gain domestic share over the last two years.

Tata Motors is launching a new mid-sized SUV — the Curvv — next week, and will have an electric version available first as it races ahead with its product portfolio of greener vehicles.

The stock has gained 47% this year, giving it a market value greater than any other auto manufacturer in India.

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