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Jaguar Land Rover to upgrade Castle Bromwich plant to build EVs

LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover is making a multi-million pound investment to build electric vehicles in Britain, in a major boost for the UK government and a sector hit by the slump in diesel sales and Brexit uncertainty. Britain's biggest car company, which built 30 percent of the UK's 1.5 million cars last year, will make a range of electrified vehicles at its Castle Bromwich plant in central England, beginning with its luxury saloon, the XJ. "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," Chief Executive Ralf Speth said on Friday. The announcement gives a boost to Britain's automotive sector hit this year by Honda and Ford's plans to close factories. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has highlighted the dangers of a no-deal Brexit and the need to maintain frictionless trade with the European Union, echoing warnings from the industry that just-in-time production could be hit by customs delays and additional bureaucracy. But it has signed a deal with workers at the Castle Bromwich factory to go from a five-day to a four-day working week with the same amount of hours which should allow the plant to operate more efficiently. Three of JLR's four European car plants are in Britain, giving it limited capacity elsewhere on the continent. The other, in Slovakia, only opened last year and is still being ramped up with other models allocated there. "We are making this investment because the ongoing Brexit uncertainty has left us with no choice, we had to act, for our employees and our business," JLR said. "We are committed to the UK as our home and will fight to stay here but we need the right deal." Both candidates to replace Prime Minister Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, have both said they are prepared to take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 without a deal, although it is not their preferred option. Brexiteers have argued that the EUÂ’s biggest economy Germany, which exports hundreds of thousands of cars to Britain ever year, would do its utmost to protect that trade Friday's announcement comes after a turbulent few months for Jaguar which announced around 4,500 job cuts earlier in January and posted a 3.66 billion pound ($4.5 billion) loss in 2018/19.

Strong JLR sales in China boost Tata Motors' quarterly profit

BENGALURU, India — Tata Motors Ltd on Friday posted a 67.2% surge in quarterly profit. Sales at its luxury car unit, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), improved in key market China as the country led a recovery in the global automobile industry from the pandemic. The Indian carmaker had logged losses for three straight quarters as the COVID-19 pandemic dented business in several of its key markets even as it was already dealing with uncertainties around Brexit, weak demand and rising costs. The Brexit trade deal agreed upon in December has avoided the risk of tariffs on automotive parts and finished vehicles, Tata Motors said, adding that JLR remains encouraged by the Brexit trade deal. JLR sales in China jumped 20.2% on-quarter and were 19.1% higher from the year-ago period. Retail sales at the unit, which accounts for most of the company's revenue, were up 13.1% from a quarter ago, but still 9% lower than pre-pandemic levels. The company said it had saved 400 million pounds ($548.96 million) during the December quarter at JLR under Project Charge, taking the total savings to 2.2 billion pounds so far. Tata Motors has set a full-year target of saving 2.5 billion pounds. Consolidated net profit came in at 29.06 billion rupees ($398.52 million) for the third quarter, compared with a profit of 17.38 billion rupees a year earlier. It had reported a loss of 3.14 billion rupees in the previous quarter. The festive season in mid-November, during which Indians typically make big-ticket purchases, also helped overall sales. "Due to a strong festive season and a clear preference for personal mobility, the PV business posted its highest sales in last 33 quarters," Tata Motors Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Guenter Butschek said. Total revenue from operations rose 5.5% to 756.54 billion rupees.

Jaguar Land Rover may build factory in Saudi Arabia

The Middle East is one of the fastest-growing markets for Land Rover, so it makes sense that the automaker is looking to set up shop in the region. According to Automotive News, Jaguar Land Rover is in talks with the people of Saudi Arabia to build a factory in the country at an expected initial cost of $1.2 billion. Still in the early stage of talks, the proposed facility could start up by 2017 using locally sourced materials such as steel and aluminum.
Such an arrangement could be beneficial for both entities as Saudi Arabia looks to diversify its oil-reliant economy and Land Rover could get local production capacity of around 50,000 units. The report also says that the agreement talks about the possibility for Jaguar models to be built at the same plant further down the road.
This won't be the first vehicle produced in Saudi Arabia - that honor goes to the KSU Gazal-1 - but it will be the first from a major global automaker.