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Jaguar Land Rover discussing further partnerships

Tata Motors, the Indian automaker which owns Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), says the British car maker will need to embrace technology partnerships in order to handle a future full of hybrid, electric and autonomous cars.


In comments reported by Autocar, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Tata Motors' chairman, told the company's annual general meeting, Jaguar Land Rover has high capital demands at the moment because it needs to invest in hybrid and electric drivetrains, and shared mobility systems, as well as new vehicles.

Chandrasekaran added: "The only way to handle this need for [all these capital investments] is additional investment through partnerships, because we want to spread the investment. There are many discussions underway, from tactical to strategic."

In early June, BMW and Jaguar Land Rover confirmed the two car makers would team up on next-generation electric vehicle drive units.

Although the jointly developed drive units will benefit from a common design and supplier base, they will be manufactured separately by each automaker.

Last month sources told the magazine the two automakers are discussing a deal where Jaguar Land Rover would use BMW's four- and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines in both hybrid and non-hybrid forms.

An even more recent report suggests the budding relationship could see Jaguar Land Rover use BMW platforms for some of its models.

Due to a sputtering global economy, Brexit-related planning issues, WLTP certification problems, and falling sales, Jaguar Land Rover notched up a record £3.6 billion ($6.4 billion) loss in the last financial year. Another £395 million ($701 million) of red ink spilled from the company in the most recent quarter.

These losses will see the automaker fire up to 5000 employees globally, and has fuelled reports Tata is planning to sell the luxury automaker to another party, such as the PSA Group.

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