As the automotive industry prepares for larger-scale production of electric cars, Land Rover is preparing to ramp up production of alternative power vehicles at the famous Lode Lane factory in Solihull, England.
As the automotive industry prepares for larger-scale production of electric cars, Land Rover is preparing to ramp up production of alternative power vehicles at the famous Lode Lane factory in Solihull, England.
As part of this, by the beginning of 2019 production of all Discovery vehicles will move to the new factory Land Rover is building in Slovakia, where they will eventually likely be built alongside the new Defender. There will be some job cuts in Solihull in the short-term, but as production of electric vehicles ramps up it is expected that growth will again occur.
Jaguar Land Rover has grabbed onto the electric era early and eagerly. The new Jaguar I-Pace, the only mass-produced fully-electric SUV on the market other than the Tesla Model X, has just been launched to rave reviews. Considering the level of investment in the project and the collaboration between Jaguar and Land Rover, it’s inevitable that we will see an equivalent all-electric Land Rover sooner than later. The company has already said that they plan to have an electric or hybrid option available for all their vehicles by 2020. The Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are already available in plug-in hybrid versions, and their production will remain in Solihull.
Moving Discovery production will create space on the assembly line and on the Lode Lane campus to develop and produce new powertrains and expand research and development. When the Slovakia factory was announced, it was announced that some Discovery production would be moving there, but having all production moving there is a bit of a surprise.
An electric automotive future is inevitable, and Jaguar Land Rover has certainly proven that they have a strong interest in developing new technologies, leveraging their relatively small size to invest in research and development for alternative power and autonomous technology.
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