Jaguar Land Rover is expected to confirm today that the next generation of the Jaguar XJ saloon will be made at its Castle Bromwich facility – and that the car will feature a pure-electric powertrain.
The British manufacturer will announce fresh investment in the factory in the West Midlands, which had been considered at risk in the wake of JLR’s cost-cutting programme and continued uncertainty over the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.
Jaguar Land Rover sources have declined to comment so far this morning but there’s already widespread speculation in business media that with production of the current XJ ending, the company has ultimately had little option but to end any decision-making process ahead of the current proposed Brexit date of 31 October, and announce what’s likely to add up to an investment of several hundred million pounds in the West Midlands.
Basing production of an all-electric XJ at Castle Bromwich makes sense to JLR for a number of reasons – not least the experience of the existing workforce on the current model and its aluminium construction, but also close proximity to JLR’s electric motor factory in Wolverhampton. The XJ’s battery packs will also be able to be sourced in the UK, thanks to Jaguar Land Rover’s production site at Hams Hall in Warwickshire.
Switching the car to a pure-electric powertrain, meanwhile, will potentially allow Jaguar to steal yet another march on its German rivals, following the success of the I-Pace. That car arrived around a year before Mercedes or Audi managed to get the EQC and e-tron to market – cars that are based on existing platforms instead of the Jaguar’s bespoke electric architecture. (edited)
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