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Jaguar Land Rover output at two UK plants hit by chip shortage

LONDON — Output at two of Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) British car factories will be temporarily halted from Monday, due to COVID-19 supply chain disruption, including a lack of semi-conductors, the firm said on Thursday. "We have adjusted production schedules for certain vehicles which means that our Castle Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing plants will be operating a limited period of non-production from Monday 26th April," the Tata Motors-owned company said. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven up demand for semiconductor chips for use in electronics like computers, as people worked from home, and suppliers are struggling to adjust, hitting output at many automakers. Trade flows have also been affected. On Wednesday, carmaker Stellantis said it would replace digital speedometers with more old-fashioned analogue ones in one of its Peugeot models, as the fallout continues. Renault's finance chief said on Thursday that car production fell by tens of thousands of vehicles in the first quarter as a result of the shortage. Output at JLR's third British car factory in Solihull, central England, will continue, the company said. "We are working closely with affected suppliers to resolve the issues and minimize the impact on customer orders wherever possible."  

Jaguar teases four-door EV grand tourer; electric Range Rover orders open this year

Jaguar just revealed a few vital details about a new EV it says will be revealed by the end of 2023, and Land Rover shared a little update about its upcoming electric Range Rover, too. Starting with the Jag, JLR — the new, official name for Jaguar Land Rover — announced that its next electric vehicle will be a four-door GT car. The image above is the teaser the company provided. Power output will be greater than any previous Jaguar, with the current record holder being the XE SV Project 8 at just over 590 horsepower. Range is claimed to be about 430 miles on a full charge (Jaguar doesn't specify the test cycle type), but that number could be different (and likely lower) here in the United States once EPA testing takes place. Jaguar says the grand tourer will debut its new in-house EV platform that is officially named JEA, which is unrelated to the electric XJ that was scrapped a couple years ago. And lastly, Jaguar says the vehicle will start at GBP100,000 in Great Britain. Pricing for the United States wasnÂ’t estimated, but a direct conversion at todayÂ’s rates puts it at about $124,000. Considering the price point, power level and range, this Jaguar is shaping up to be a potential Porsche Taycan competitor. The single teaser image at the top of this post suggests the same, as the photo shows a car with a fast-sloping roofline and wide, bulging fenders. ItÂ’s an exciting teaser, as it pretty much confirms that Jaguar will be coming in hot with a spicy-looking electric four-door. The last detail about this Jag confirmed today is its production site, as Jaguar says it will build the vehicle at its Solihull plant in the West Midlands, England. As for the Range Rover news, weÂ’ve known an electric Range Rover was on its way, now we know that the vehicle will launch in 2025. JLR says it will begin accepting orders for the electric Range Rover later this year, but didnÂ’t set an official date. The electric Range Rover will be built at JLRÂ’s Halewood plant in Merseyside, England. Those are all the details we know about today, but expect more teasers and information leading up to the reveal of these new EVs later in 2023. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Tata to get Jaguar and Land Rover tech, platforms too?

Since buying Jaguar Land Rover, Indian automaker Tata has generally left its luxury arm's platforms and technology alone. However, those days might be gone. The two of them are gradually growing closer with coordinated development and rumors of shared platforms. And it looks like all of that work and money is finally going to pay off with an actual vehicle in the near future.
According to Australian website Drive, Tata wants to make its cars more attractive to buyers outside of India, and to do that the company knows it must improve quality. The Indian company is being careful, though, because it doesn't want to dilute the Jaguar or Land Rover brands with cheap models. "You're going to see in the future a lot of sharing of technologies and platforms over time, but you won't see a JLR with a Tata badge on it," said Darren Bowler, managing director of Tata's Australian distributor, to Drive.
According to Bowler, these future vehicles are already on the way. Tata and JLR have a global platform in the works for 2017 that both companies could use for cars or crossovers. He also hinted that Jaguar's new Ingenium engines could be shared among the brands in the future, too.