Jaguar Land Rover is close to announcing plans to source batteries for its electric vehicles from the UK, CEO Thierry Bollore told the Financial Times.
The automaker also will take closer control of key parts such as microprocessors and batteries as it overhauls its supply chain, Bollore told the paper in an interview.
Bollore told the FT that batteries will be as critical in future as engine-making is today, and JLR is also "exploring all possibilities" about whether to make or buy batteries for its electric vehicles.
Sourcing batteries from a UK plant is the "favorite scenario," he said, adding that the company is in final discussions with a handful of battery manufacturers about plant location.
JLR said in February that the Jaguar brand will become all-electric starting in 2025 and Land Rover will aim to make 60 percent of its sales zero emissions vehicles by 2030.
The British government is reported to be in talks with six companies to build battery factories in the UK.
Bollore, Renault's former CEO, has been overhauling JLR since he took change of the UK automaker last September.
The company has been slashing costs since 2019 and its ambitions are no longer linked to selling 1 million cars a year. JLR's annual sales breakeven figure have been reduced to 400,000 and the automaker plans to reduce manufacturing capacity by 25 percent and end volume car production at its plant in Castle Bromwich, England.
Bollore told the FT that he sees potential for "much more" savings. Asked by the paper if other closures may follow, Bollore said: "Oh yes."
He said JLR's only full-electric model, the Jaguar I-Pace, will continue for several years including new derivatives, but will not be directly replaced.
The Range Rover and Land Rover Defender will get full-electric versions, he said.
