Jaguar Land Rover Deathwatch: Hitting Reset on EV Development
Jaguar Land Rover has canceled several planned vehicles and opted to reassess its Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) after the company started fretting about the probability of unmet emissions requirements. Chief Financial Officer Adrian Mardell addressed investors on Friday to explain that all subsequent development of the platform would be postponed indefinitely. Ironic, considering MLA was supposed to be flexible enough to facilitate electrification and putting a lid on it means canceling the planned all-electric Jaguar XJ sedan and at least one unnamed Land Rover.
Rather than its intended purpose of underpinning all JLR products by 2025, the MLA platform is now said to be used exclusively on Land Rover’s larger SUVs. Meanwhile, the manufacturer has decided to prioritize its battery-focused Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA) as it tries to place a greater emphasis on electrification moving forward. Sadly, that means the $1.4 billion it spent in service of advancing MLA and finding a new partner that can help make Jaguar all-electric by 2025.
From AN:
JLR will write off 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) of investment related to those products as part of the company’s “Reimagine” strategy, Mardell told financial analysts on the investor call on Friday.
“There are costs involved, including the cancelation of the MLA-mid program, the XJ replacement and the Land Rover BEV,” Mardell said. The investment due to be written off had largely been made in 2019.
Jaguar Land Rover had intended for the MLA platform, which supports full-electric, plug-in hybrid and internal combustion engine drivetrains, to underpin nearly all its models by 2025, according to a presentation the company showed to investors in 2018.
“Reimagine is about being one step ahead on compliance. The current MLA program would not have done that for us,” Mardell explained. “We would have been in catch-up in this compliance and that just isn’t good enough in this industry today.”
“[The XJ] will not be ahead of the tech curve. It wouldn’t have that modern luxury, that future Jaguar vision, that drop-dead aspiration that we need to make this brand work …That’s why the brand worked 30 years ago, 40 years ago. We have got to capture that for this to be actually cash generative and EBIT positive. So we had to make a tough decision.”
JLR has already confirmed it will have to pay the European Union the equivalent of $35 million (USD) for failing to adhere to 2020 CO2 emission reduction targets. Considering the money that’s been squandered on abandoned development programs and the general financial troubles the automaker has been facing, we’re becoming quite concerned with the JLR’s wellbeing.
The company’s strategy now hinges on an electric-heavy platform intended for smaller vehicles and BEV-only architecture that doesn’t yet exist. It’s also reducing sales projections by a massive amount. JLR previous desire of moving 1 million automobiles per year has been revised to just 400,000 — roughly what it sold in 2020. However, in order to avoid bankruptcy, CEO Thierry Bollore also wants Jaguar Land Rover to use the new Reimagine plan to send vehicles upmarket to make them more profitable. So we have a relatively fancy, though struggling, automaker that’s going to be raising the price of its vehicles while transitioning to a new powertrain it doesn’t seem to be having any luck with?
Should be fine.
[Image: Jaguar Land Rover]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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