JLR Scraps EV Production Plans at Tata's New India Factory

Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has abandoned its plans to manufacture EVs at parent company Tata Motors' new $1 billion facility in Tamil Nadu.

The news agency indicated that the British luxury carmaker struggled to achieve a balance between cost and quality for locally produced EV components amidst a global decline in demand for EVs.

"For India, all the work (on JLR electric vehicles) has stopped. Everything has been suspended since about two months," Reuters quoted a supplier source as saying.

Tata Motors' new facility in Tamil Nadu was expected to produce around 250,000 vehicles annually when it reached full capacity in five to seven years. This facility was intended for the manufacturing of JLR's EVs, and JLR planned to source the EV components locally.

However, the plan was abandoned due to the inability to find the right balance between price and quality for locally sourced EV parts.

Reports indicate that JLR met with local suppliers in Mumbai last November to discuss the specifics and strategies for local sourcing of EV components. Although initial information on part prices was requested from the vendors, negotiations have since stalled.

Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, the local electric vehicle division of Tata, is expected to experience a delay in the launch of its first high-end Avinya models due to JLR's decision. This is because some of the components were to have been sourced collaboratively, and the cars are to be constructed on the same chassis as JLR's electric vehicles.