British luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to develop and sell eight different electric vehicle models in the Indian market by 2030, Hindustan Times reports, citing PTI.
“We are planning to introduce at least eight BEVs by the end of the decade in India.”
Lennard Hoornik, JLR Chief Commercial Officer
As of now, the Tata Motors-owned brand only has one EV offering in the local market, the Jaguar I-Pace. That said, expanding its EV portfolio to eight models will significantly aid the foreign brand to catch up in India’s electric car industry.
In effect, it will also expand the overall electric vehicle portfolio of its Indian parent company.
Range Rover may arrive in 2025
The local report suggests that the first model in the pipeline is the all-electric Range Rover. However, the company has yet to disclose more details about the impending models, along with their key specifications.
JLR Chief Commercial Officer Lennard Hoornik apparently disclosed that the company aims to open pre-orders for the model as soon as next year for India-based customers. Meanwhile, it expects to start the deliveries of the e-SUV the following year.
Interestingly, the electric version of the Range Rover will apparently have no “discernable difference” from the petrol-powered counterpart, Times of India reports, citing Chief Exterior Designer Anthony Peat’s remarks.
“In terms of electrification, when you buy a Range Rover you don’t buy a power plant, you buy the vehicle. So we are not really signalling anything different between the ICE version and the EVs. That’s not what Range Rover will do. What electrification means is that our designers will have more flexibility to explore what Range Rover is and what it should be. Range Rover has a certain quality to it, a certain aesthetic and those sensibilities will always be there in a Range Rover product.”
Anthony Peat, Chief Exterior Designer
That said, it will ride on the same Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) platform as the traditional models. The brand has yet to announce more details about the model’s technical specifications.
Targets
JLR has set a target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2039 through transforming into an all-electric brand, Business Today stated.
In order to hit this 2039 target, JLR aims to strengthen its presence in the Indian market.
As part of the strategy, the luxury automaker will boost the electrification of its iconic Range, Range Rover Sport, and Defender brands in India.
The brand executive also asserted some of the key factors that he expects to drive the faster and wider shift to clean energy vehicles in the country, including the following:
- Subsidies
- EV charging infrastructure development
- Competitive model offerings
- Affordability
“I think to kickstart that sort of transformation to electric cars, I think it is very important.”
Lennard Hoornik, JLR Chief Commercial Officer
See Also:
- JLR to use old I-PACE batteries as energy storage system in the UK
- JLR owner TATA Motors to erect its new electric vehicle battery factory in the UK
- Jaguar Land Rover invests $2.9B to accelerate the electrification of its luxury brand
- Jaguar and Land Rover charging comes to the UK
- Jaguar recalls over 6,000 I-PACE models in the US over battery fire risks
JLR enjoyed substantial sales growth of more than 100% in the local market in the second quarter of the fiscal year. Considering this remarkable performance, the brand expects its sales to further increase in the following quarters. It recently disclosed plans to invest £4 billion in a new 40GWh battery plant in England to support its production and also supply other brands.
