JLR Halewood plant ready to build EV and ICE Land Rovers
First EV expected to be built at Halewood is the next Range Rover Velar
Total investment of £500m brings longer production lines for EVs, new body shop and larger paint shop
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced a further £250 million investment in its plant in Halewood, Merseyside, to ready it for the production of new Range Rover models.
The plant is being transformed to enable the production of new SUVs on the upcoming EMA platform, which supports pure-combustion, hybrid and battery-electric powertrains.
The total investment in Halewood, totalling £500 million, has been used to overhaul the facility. It has been extended by 30006 square metres, allowing for the installation of a new body shop and longer production lines for installing batteries into EVs. The paint shop has also grown to accommodate demand for colour-contrasting roofs.
As previously reported by Autocar, the next-generation Land Rover Discovery Sport, Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Velar and a new ‘baby’ Defender model are due to be built at Halewood.
The Velar is expected to arrive first, given that prototypes have already been spotted testing.
JLR said Halewood would “eventually” swap to building electric cars exclusively, implying it has softened its previous commitment to make the switch next year.
The company recently upped its five-year investment forecast from £15 billion to £18 billion, after slower-than-expected growth in electric car sales forced it to boost investment into platforms with greater powertrain flexibility.
“Until one powertrain technology properly wins globally, we are going to continue to have to invest in multiple powertrains at the same time,” CFO Richard Molyneux told analysts at JLR’s investor day in June.
Molyneux added: “We have one advantage over many in our industry in that we have not yet played our cards in the BEV game. Many competitors have placed their bets, done their investment, launched their cars and quite a few have regretted it. It's one of the advantages of being a follower rather than being first in the market.”