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Jaguar Land Rover in talks for Southern US factory

Jaguar Land Rover is getting serious about global expansion, and that means it can't only build its vehicles in the UK anymore. The British automaker is cutting the ribbon at its new plant in China tomorrow, marking the opening of its first factory outside the UK. In 2016, it will open another factory in Brazil. But the latest intel has it that JLR is looking into a US factory, as well.
The report, which comes to us from the Sunday Times by way of Automotive News Europe, indicates that the company is evaluating locations for a North American factory, with options centering around Southern right-to-work states like South Carolina, where BMW operates its plant in Spartanburg and a wide array of other automotive operations are based as well. The JLR plant would reportedly ramp up to a capacity of 200,000 units per year.
In related news, while that new plant JLR is inaugurating in Changshu, China, is initially slated to produce the Range Rover Evoque, it is also expected to start building the new Discovery Sport as well - just like the Halewood plant in the UK that has handled Evoque assembly from the start and which just built its first Discovery Sport, as well.

Jaguar Land Rover to cut workforce by 2,000 in push toward electric future

Jaguar Land Rover said on Wednesday it would cut 2,000 jobs from its global salaried workforce, just days after announcing its luxury Jaguar brand will be entirely electric by 2025 and e-models of its entire lineup will be launched by 2030. "The full review of the Jaguar Land Rover organization is already under way," the company said in an emailed statement. "We anticipate a net reduction of around 2,000 people from our global salaried workforce in the next financial year," it said. However, it added that the organizational review did not impact hourly paid, manufacturing employees. JLR, owned by India's Tata Motors, said earlier that its Land Rover brand will launch six fully electric models over the next five years, with the first in 2024. Known for its iconic, high-performance E-Type model in the 1960s and 1970s, Jaguar faces the same challenges as many other carmakers as it transitions to electric vehicles while trying to retain the feeling and power of a luxury combustion engine model. Last month, Tata Motors said it was concerned by semiconductor shortages and Brexit-related supply disruptions as its luxury car sales recover, although the Indian automaker added these had not yet hit production. Tata Motors posted three straight quarters of losses as the COVID-19 crisis dented sales, exacerbating uncertainties over Britain's exit from the European Union, weak demand and rising costs, but had bounced back to clock a profit in its third quarter to the end of December. The 2,000 reduction in JLR's non-factory jobs was reported earlier on Wednesday by Sky News.

Jaguar Land Rover backs Arc startup that sells $100,000 electric motorcycles

Before it even put its first motorcycle on the road, new startup Arc reeled in a major player to back its ambitious product plan. In conjunction with the reveal of the fully electric Vector superbike at the Esposizione Internazionale Ciclo Motociclo e Accessori ( EICMA) show in Milan, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced it is placing capital in Arc, using JLR's investment company InMotion Ventures. Arc claims the Vector is the first all-electric motorcycle with integrated Human Machine Interface (HMI) to come to market. Arc, not to be confused with Keanu Reeve's Arch motorcycle company, has a pretty typical mission statement: "To use progressive design and technology to transform people's relationship with an automative experience. For us, for you, for our planet." At the core, Arc wants to make connected, clean, exclusive superbikes, and the Vector is its first try. Although Arc didn't get into the nitty gritty details about the make-up of the bike, it did give some surface specs and information. The bike's structure is built using a carbon composite to create a "unique Arc battery monocoque." Weight is also kept low using carbon fiber swing arms. There is no mention of the size or type of electric powertrain, but Arc claims it will have a highway range of about 120 miles or a city range of 170 miles on a single charge. Arc says it will be able to sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.7 seconds and has a top speed of 124 mph. Stopping power comes from a Brembo brake system, while ride and handling relies on Ohlins dampers. The launch does not stop at the motorcycle, but includes gear, as well. The Vector links up with a jacket and a helmet for a fully connected experience. Partnering with U.K.-based impact protection design company Knox, Arc created the Arc Pilot System. Using audio, the armored Origin riding jacket provides haptic feedback based on numerous riding inputs to help keep the driver safe and aware. Furthermore, Arc linked up with luxury helmet maker Hedon to build the WiFi-connected Zenith helmet that houses an integrated projection heads-up display. In addition to showing things such as speed or battery life of the bike, the helmet uses a built-in rear camera to display other vehicles in the rider's blind spots. The rider can command the system using controls on the bike or via voice commands.