By Nick Carey
LONDON (Reuters) - Jaguar Land Rover's luxury Jaguar brand will be entirely electric by 2025 and the carmaker will launch e-models of its entire lineup by 2030, it said on Monday, as it joined a global race to develop zero-emission vehicles.
JLR, owned by India's Tata Motors (NYSE:TTM), said its Land Rover brand will launch six pure electric models over the next five years, with the first one coming in 2024.
Known for its iconic, high-performance E-Type model in the 1960s and 1970s, Jaguar faces the same challenge as many other carmakers - making the transition to electric vehicles while retaining the feeling and power of a luxury combustion engine model.
JLR said it will keep all three of its British plants open as it electrifies its range. "It's time to re-imagine the next chapter for both brands," Chief Executive Thierry Bollore said.
Shares in Tata Motors rose as much as 3% after the announcement.
JLR said its electric plans for Jaguar would be centred at its Solihull plant, but dropped plans to build the XJ, the brand's flagship full-size car, at its Castle Bromwich facility in central England.
Bollore, who took over as CEO in September, said the Castle Bromwich plant would focus instead on "non-production" activities in the long term. He provided few details.
JLR said it will spend around 2.5 billion pounds ($3.5 billion) annually on electrification technologies and the development of connected vehicle services.
The company said it was also investing in developing hydrogen fuel cells in anticipation of a future shift to hydrogen to power vehicles.
The carmaker will have prototypes using hydrogen fuel cells on Britain's roads within the next year, it said, as part of a long-range investment plan.
Car groups worldwide are pursuing zero-emission strategies to meet stringent CO2 emission targets in Europe and China.
Luxury car brand Bentley Motors, owned by Germany's Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p), said in November its model range will be fully electric by 2030, and last month General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) said it aimed to have a zero-emission lineup by 2035.
A number of countries have also announced bans on new fossil-fuel vehicle sales. In the United Kingdom, that ban should take effect in 2030.
JLR said it was a "on a path towards" a double-digit operating profit and positive cash flow, and aims to achieve positive cash excluding debt by 2025.
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