LONDON -- Jaguar Land Rover will work with Magna International on a new platform for its forthcoming electric Jaguar range, a job ad posted by the UK automaker has revealed.
The job ad, posted on Linkedin, offers candidates the chance to be involved in the platform project and "work closely with JLR, Jaguar and Magna" on an "outsourced engineering service relationship."
The platform is called Panthera, JLR Chief Financial Officer Adrian Mardell said during an earnings call with analysts this month. The job ad also referenced the Panthera project.
JLR CEO Thierry Bollore has said the automaker would look outside the company for the platform following last year's announcement that Jaguar will become an electric-only brand starting in 2025.
A decision to push the brand further upmarket and ditch combustion engines came after JLR struggled to turn Jaguar into a credible alternative to luxury brands including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
Jaguar will now head significantly upmarket to create a rival to Bentley with the launch of the first electric model on the new platform, due in 2025. Current combustion-engine models will be phased out ahead of the debut for the new range.
An upmarket electric Jaguar will also compete with the new large electric SUV from Lotus, which will go on sale next year, followed by a sedan and smaller SUV.
The decision to work with a partner on the new platform "was a matter of scale and speed to go to market," Bollore said.
Bollore appeared to change that position earlier this month when he told analysts JLR was developing the platform on its own, but he also indicated that this was temporary.
JLR is putting strong focus on the design of its new electric cars, which is partly determined by the platform.
"Concerning the new Jaguar, we are making unique proportions a priority, that is the reason why at the moment we are doing it by ourselves," Bollore said.
Magna subsidiary Magna Steyr currently builds the Jaguar I-Pace SUV, the brand's only full-electric model, in Graz, Austria. The contract manufacturer confirmed that it had no hand in developing the vehicle and its one-off platform.
"We did not develop the I-Pacec. We are 'just' manufacturing the vehicle," a spokesperson said.
Neither Magna Steyr nor JLR would comment on whether they were working on the new EV platform.
Magna Steyr works with a variety of customers engineering vehicle platforms, including U.S. EV maker Fisker, which will also use the company to build its electric Ocean SUV in Graz.
"We do have a flexible platform. It can be bespoke. The Fisker Ocean has one which was tailored to their needs," the spokesperson said.
JLR switched Jaguar off its in-house architectures after making the decision to cancel lower-riding versions of the MLA platform underpinning the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport large SUV.
The decision affected the replacement for the Jaguar XJ sedan, which was also canceled.
