Jaguar shelves plan to build EVs at Tata’s India plant

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has shelved plans to build EVs at parent company Tata Motor’s upcoming USD 1 billion factory in southern India, sources told Reuters.

The British luxury car unit could not find the right price-quality balance for locally sourced EV parts; the decision also showed slowing demand for electric cars, the report says.

The shelved plans reportedly include over 70,000 electric cars and Tata’s EV unit’s 25,000 cars. 

“For India, all the work (on JLR electric vehicles) has stopped. Everything has been suspended since about two months,” a source told Reuters.

JLR’s decision may also delay plans for the launch of Tata Passenger Electric Mobility’s Avinya model. 

Tata began construction of the new facility in the second half of 2024. The factory is expected to produce over 250,000 cars a year after it reaches full capacity in 5-7 years. Not all vehicles produced at the plant will be EVs.

Tata’s competitors in the Indian market include JSW MG Motor, and Mahindra and Mahindra. India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is also planning to enter the EV market. Tesla is also said to be planning to launch EVs in India. 

India has the world’s third-largest car market by volume but the EV sector is still in a nascent stage. The Indian government wants electric cars to account for 30% of the new car sales in the country by 2030.