Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), owned by Tata Motors, is set to invest £500 million ($669 million) to upgrade its Halewood plant in England to manufacture electric SUVs. This comes after the company already injected £250 million into the site, located near Liverpool, over the past year. The carmaker plans to double its investment in the coming years as Halewood becomes JLR’s first fully electric manufacturing facility.
While Jaguar Land Rover aims to electrify its lineup, it has acknowledged that the transition will take longer and cost more than initially anticipated, due to lower consumer demand for EVs and the continued need to develop internal combustion engines and hybrid models. The company has committed £18 billion over the next five years to offer electric options across its range by the end of the decade.
This investment reflects the wider challenges facing the European automotive industry, where several manufacturers are rethinking their EV strategies. Reduced consumer demand and cuts to subsidies in countries like Germany and Sweden have led companies such as Volvo and Mercedes-Benz to revise their ambitious electric vehicle targets.
The Halewood facility, originally opened by Ford in 1963, currently produces key models such as the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport. JLR plans to begin manufacturing medium-sized electric SUVs at the plant, alongside combustion and hybrid vehicles, though no official timeline has been set for phasing out non-electric models. In February, JLR reduced its planned number of fully electric Land Rover models by 2026 from six to four, as it continues to navigate the evolving automotive landscape.
