Jaguar Land Rover has ambitions for the UK to become a worldwide centre of excellence for electric vehicles.
Speaking the Warwick Manufacturing Group dinner Jaguar Land Rover CEO Dr Ralf Speth confirmed his vision to double the production output of the business, make Electric Vehicles in the UK and the desire to make the UK a global centre of excellence for battery research and development.
In a statement afterwards, JLR said, “ This is dependent on overcoming infrastructure and capacity issues. We cannot comment on quoted job numbers or a timeframe.”
Some media reports after the dinner said the JLR plans could create up to 10,000 new UK jobs, particularly if its current car production continues to grow.
These would be to build the battery packs for the forthcoming Jaguar I-Pace SUV due in 2018 and other future JLR models.
Assembly of the new Jaguar EV will be split between the UK and Austria which could help overcome any possible tariff issues after Britain leaves the EU.