Jaguar Land Rover invests heavily into the North West!

Jaguar Land Rover is set to invest millions of pounds in converting its Halewood plant near Liverpool to build electric vehicles, securing the factory’s future and thousands of jobs.

The company has begun the tendering process to upgrade the factory to build cars on the new ‘Native BEV’ Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA), a source close to the process told Autocar. 

Models using the new platform will include replacements for the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport, both of which are made at the Halewood plant. 

JLR has previously confirmed the platform for the Halewood plant, one of three vehicle assembly facilities in the UK, however, this confirmation will come as good news for the facility’s 3700 employees in a period of high uncertainty. 

The extended shutdown period to convert the plant will happen in 2024, the source told Autocar. JLR has said cars on its EMA platform will arrive in the same year.

The company has previously said it will repurpose its Castle Bromwich facility, east of Birmingham after the company decided to cut manufacturing capacity by 25% as part of its Reimagine transformation plans announced in 2021 by CEO Thierry Bolloré.

Halewood’s confirmed role in building electric cars – as well as plug-in hybrids and hybrids from the flexible EMA platform – will ensure its future is secure well into the medium term. The factory was opened in 1963 by Ford, which retains part of the site for building gearboxes and will invest more than £200 million repurposing it as an electric drivetrain factory by 2024.

According to Jaguar Land Rover, the EMA platform is “born from an obsession with simplicity” and “battery agnostic,” meaning it can accept any battery shape and chemistry.

Autocar state: “It can accept small-capacity, high-performance combustion engines, which is likely to mean the plug-in hybrid, hybrid and mild hybrid versions of the car will use the company’s 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine that powers the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport plug-in hybrid models.”

This news is welcomed by Lindström! We have a great passion for sustainability. Lindström has practiced and promoted sustainable ways of working for decades. We have long practiced good corporate social responsibility with regard to the environment, our employees, and also our customers’ own sustainability aspirations and have always strived to raise the bar for responsibility and sustainability.

Our passion and commitment are to making sustainable decisions every day, and we aim to be the most sustainable company in our industry. Lindström can help your business improve its sustainable impact, productivity, corporate image and so much more. To discuss improving your automotive business through workwear rental, spill mats, or industrial wipers, please contact our team today.