Tata Motors' subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), announced a £500 million investment to retool its Halewood plant in England for electric SUV production.
This investment doubles previous spending, totaling £500 million, as JLR aims to make Halewood its first fully electric facility.
Despite this commitment, JLR cautioned that the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) will exceed initial cost estimates due to weak consumer demand and the necessity to continue developing combustion-engine and hybrid models.
Over the next five years, JLR plans to invest £18 billion to introduce electric versions across all model lines by the decade's end.
While JLR progresses, other European automakers are scaling back EV ambitions amid declining demand and reduced subsidies, as seen with Volvo and Mercedes-Benz.
The Halewood plant, originally established by Ford in 1963, will produce medium-sized electric SUVs alongside hybrid and combustion-engine models, though no timeline for phasing out non-electric vehicles has been provided.