Jaguar Land Rover To Drop V8 Engines, Use Modular Aluminum Architecture On All Future Models

Jaguar Land Rover’s lineup has expanded over the past few years as the company has launched new models such as the E-Pace and Velar. The expansion is expected to continue in the future as a new report is suggesting four new models will arrive by 2024.

The first is the all-new Jaguar I-Pace which was unveiled in March and will be launched later this year. Autocar reports the model will be followed the Land Rover Defender, Jaguar J-Pace and Range Rover Allroad.

Besides the all-new models, Jaguar Land Rover will reportedly launch redesigned versions of its entire lineup by 2024. The Range Rover Evoque will be the first to go under the knife and the redesigned model is slated to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

While the Evoque is expected to ride on an updated version of its current platform, the report claims all future models will eventually be underpinned by a new aluminum platform called the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA). The platform is slated to accommodate rear- and all-wheel drive layouts as well as plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains.

The platform will reportedly go into production in 2020 and it is expected to be lighter than the company’s current aluminum architecture. Little else is known about the platform, but it will reportedly debut on the new Defender. The report claims the model will be followed by the Jaguar J-Pace in 2020 and the redesigned Range Rover in 2021.

Jaguar Land Rover’s smallest models – the Evoque, Discovery Sport and E-Pace – aren’t expected to make the switch to the MLA platform until 2025 or later. However, the report says that change isn’t certain yet as the longitudinal layout would require the models to be significantly larger than they are today.

The platform wouldn’t be the only thing that is new as the report claims the next-generation of Ingenium engines – which are rumored to include a straight-six and a three-cylinder – will be more efficient and use electric turbochargers. Unfortunately, the new generation of engines will reportedly spell the end for V8 power. If true, this would be a bit of a disappointment as the 5.0-liter V8 has been a fixture in everything from the Range Rover Sport to the Jaguar F-Type.