Jaguar Land Rover plans USA push as CEO says ‘no way’ petrol models will be phased out

Car giant wants to sell to ‘millionaires and billionaires’ in America

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced plans to focus on wealthy North American buyers as it bids for ‘double digit’ revenue growth and tweaks its electric vehicle plans.

JLR this morning issued an update on its Reimagine strategy to transform the business amid the global shift to electric vehicles.

The West Midlands based group, which also has a large factory at Halewood in Merseyside, said today that it was targeting “medium-term double‑digit revenue growth by leveraging its House of Brands strategy to cater to different customer segments and diversify its sources of growth”.

JLR has accelerated its push into the electric vehicle market, but this morning its CEO PB Balaji said there was “no way” it would phase out petrol vehicles entirely as they were still in demand particularly in the US and the Middle East.

The company announced changes to its upcoming Range Rover, Defender and Discovery vehicle launches, with more hybrid options available alongside fully electric ones.

It said there would be more “flexibility” added to its electric vehicles built at Halewood, with more hybrid engine options, and more details on the latest Halewood-built Range Rover will be revealed later this year. Solihull-built Range Rover Electric and Range Rover Sport Electric models will be launched later this year and will include hybrid and full electric options.

JLR recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with fellow carmaker Stellantis to explore product and technology development opportunities in the US. The company today confirmed that it would be focusing on the Defender brand in the US as part of that collaboration.

The group, which last year suffered a massive cyber attack that shut down production, added that it planned to drive cost reductions of £1.7bn over the next two years.

The company says that as well as its key markets in the UK, Europe and China, JLR will focus on the US. JLR said it planned to design exclusive vehicles for the US market to cater for the “extensive and increasing luxury opportunity there”.

PB Balaji, JLR CEO, said: “As we enter a critical business delivery phase of our Reimagine strategy, launching five new products over the next two years across our incredible House of Brands, now is also the time to evolve our plan to offer global markets greater propulsion choice to unlock growth and build resilience.

“To truly manifest the power of our brands, we will increase our focus on North America, our biggest market. The rising demand for luxury products coupled with the strong preference we see for our brands signals significant growth potential.

“Apart from accelerating our existing offerings, we are also exploring new high potential segments for our Defender brand, which will allow us to offer tailored luxury products and experiences for even more of our US clients. Our aspiration, in the coming years, is to grow our US business to the size of the entire JLR business as it exists today.”

The Financial Times also quoted Mr Balaji this morning as saying JLR would “give everything” to boost its sales to “millionaires and billionaires” in America.