LONDON -- Jaguar Land Rover is expected to announce plans on Friday to build full-electric cars at its Castle Bromwich factory in England, the Sunday Times reported.
An all-electric version of the XJ sedan replacement will be the first of three new battery-powered vehicles followed by an SUV, the newspaper said.
The investment will help to secure the future of the Castle Bromwich factory. Jaguar Land Rover has scheduled a six-week shutdown at the site to install a new range of tooling that will allow it to make full-electric cars, the Sunday Times said.
Jaguar Land Rover's first full-electric car, the Jaguar I-Pace, is built by Magna Steyr in Austria.
Jaguar Land Rover said during an investor day on June 5 that it will launch its Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) electric-capable platform on a "large SUV and a large premium sedan." MLA can be adapted for pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and mild-hybrid drivetrains. Electric cars using the MLA platform will have a range of up to 292 miles.
JLR's first electric SUV is expected to be a battery-powered version of the next-generation Range Rover.
Jaguar Land Rover will partner with BMW Group for electric motors, transmission and power electronics, the companies said in June.
The move to invest in Castle Bromwich is a rare bright spot for the British automotive sector which has been hit by job cuts, plant closure announcements and falling sales in recent months linked to tumbling demand for diesel vehicles and Brexit uncertainty.
Jaguar Land Rover is cutting costs after it posted a $4.6 billion annual loss, hit by a downturn in demand for SUVs in China and a regulatory clampdown on diesel emissions in Europe.
Automotive News Europe contributed to this report
