Jaguar Land Rover is knocking back one quarter of its production over the next five years, Automotive News reports. The news has come via an investor presentation.
If there’s a popular JLR machine that you know and love, though, don’t get too worried—the brand’s cuts are mainly going to be coming in the form of projects that have been announced but not started yet, like the Jaguar XJ sedan that it already reported won’t be happening.
JLR has promised that it’ll retain all of its manufacturing facilities—it’s just kind of clearing a path for future development, especially pertaining to electric vehicle production. Jaguar will be all-electric by 2025, with Land Rover joining the party by 2039. JLR is likely to take those resources and channel them into creating a unique style of electrification.
This news also comes in the wake of new CEO Thierry Bollore announcing that JLR’s break-even point in terms of car sales has been lowered from 600,000 to 400,000. If you have the flexibility to rework your operation, now’s a good time to do it.
Auto News has also reported that JLR is looking to partner with an outside company to create that all-electric platform. It would be expensive as hell to try creating that platform in-house; it takes a lot of research and trial-and-error before automotive companies are really able to perfect their EV base; it’s going to be necessary for JLR to find that external partner if it wants to have a fully-electric Jaguar lineup by 2025. According to Bollore, the decision to work with a partner “was a matter of scale and speed to go to market.”
It makes sense. Ford has done a similar thing by using Volkswagen’s MBE electric-only platform to develop its new host of EVs. Companies that got a head start on developing electric platforms will be able to benefit as other automakers now realize they’ll need a strong base on which to develop their upcoming carbon-free plans.
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