Tata Motors-owned British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover have said that they are exploring partnership opportunities for the future as the work to make both brands go fully electric by 2030 intensifies.
Responding to a question during a post earnings call on whether JLR (which owns the two brands) would collaborate with other automakers for licensing of electric vehicle platforms, Thierry Bollore, CEO, Jaguar Land Rover, said, “We are being solicitated and are also exploring partnership opportunities for the future. At the same time, when you look at our new Range Rover, you can understand that we are absolutely unique. We are creating the new EMA platform because it is going to bring a unique proportion and capabilities on our cars.”
Platforms for transition
JLR has developed two new platforms for the electric transition. While the MLA (modular longitudinal architecture) platform can house hybrid and pure electric vehicle solutions, the EMA (electric modular architecture) platform is purely for electric purposes.
In addition to these platforms, JLR said it will develop its own electric platform in-house, which will be supported by a £625 million UK government-backed loan.
Commitments and partnerships
Jaguar and Land Rover aim to offer pure electric power, nameplate by nameplate, by 2030. By this time, in addition to 100 per cent of Jaguar sales, it is anticipated that around 60 per cent of Land Rovers sold will be equipped with zero tailpipe powertrains. Tata Motors has made commitments of pumping in £2.5 billion in electrification technologies and the development of connected services at JLR.
In 2019, JLR announced a partnership with German luxury auto giant BMW to jointly develop electric motors transmission and power electronics.
Jaguar I-Pace is currently the only fully electric model in the JLR portfolio. While the first all-electric Land Rover will hit the market in 2024, Jaguar is on track to become an all-electric luxury brand from 2025.
Though volumes in the December 2021 quarter were impacted by a lack of adequate supplies of semiconductors, demand did not suffer. JLR is sitting on an orderbook of 155,000 units, including orders of more than 30,000 units of the new Range Rover which is yet to be launched commercially.