JLR ups spending by £3bn to hedge against slowing EV uptake

JLR has increased its five-year investment plan from £15 billion to £18bn after the slower-than-predicted EV take-up forced it to boost spending on platforms that allow combustion engines as well as electric powertrains.

The British firm announced the original £15bn plan last April, detailing spending on new EV platforms, including the mid-sized EMA, which will underpin cars built at its Halewood plant from 2025.

However, the sluggish demand for electric cars has forced it top up the spending budget to extend the life of ICE cars. 

The hike to £18bn is “partly because we are having to invest more in keeping the parallel running of BEV vehicles and ICE vehicles going for longer than we anticipated as the industry trend towards BEV globally starts to slow down from previous expectations,” JLR CFO Richard Molyneux told analysts at the company’s investor day in June.