Following the US and Europe, the UK also joins: "Jaguar Land Rover to establish new battery factory"

Jaguar Land Rover, a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors, is expected to soon announce plans to build a major electric vehicle battery factory in the UK, according to major foreign media reports on the 18th (local time).

As major countries around the world, including the United States, the European Union (EU), and Mexico, actively compete to attract production bases to develop electric vehicle batteries as a national core industry, the UK has also entered this race.

Foreign media, citing sources, reported that the UK automaker Jaguar Land Rover has decided to build a new battery factory on a site in Somerset, southwest England.

Earlier, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a private meeting in May with Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Indian Tata Group, to discuss such plans. At this meeting, Chandrasekaran reportedly requested financial support of at least ?500 million (approximately 825.2 billion KRW) for production subsidies such as energy grants and road construction for site utilization.

In April, Jaguar Land Rover announced a vision to be reborn as a 100% electric vehicle brand starting in 2025. To achieve this, it plans to convert its UK Halewood plant into an electric vehicle-only manufacturing facility and launch seven new electric vehicle models led by the electric Range Rover to be unveiled next year, aiming to transform into a premium electric vehicle brand by 2030.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

This investment is expected to provide a breakthrough for the UK automotive industry, which has been struggling with the transition to electric vehicles. Establishing a new electric vehicle production base in the UK is the second among global automakers after Japan's Nissan.

Major countries around the world are also actively fostering the electric vehicle industry. The US and Europe have been early in creating electric vehicle ecosystems by introducing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), respectively, while Mexico, which is part of a single economic zone through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is also sending love calls to attract electric vehicle battery companies by promoting lithium.