JLR to spend £5 billion on new car design and production
07 May 2011
British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plans to spend £5 billion ($8.2 billion) on new cars and equipment over the next five years in order to better compete with its German rivals.
A major part of the £5 billion will be spent on designing, new cars and equipment at its three plants, a new £750 million engine plant in the UK as well as a planned joint venture production in China.
The Tata Motors-owned British iconic carmaker will also spend a significant amount of money on new engine technology and car body design in order to catch up with German luxury car makers-BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
Jaguar is developing in collaboration with William of Formula One fame the C-X75, a green hybrid sports car capable of doing 0-60mph in less than three seconds, which will emit as little CO2 as the Toyota Prius.
The C-X75 will have a 1.6-litre petrol engine, four-wheel-drive and two electric motors for low fuel consumption and is expected to cost around £900,000.
Jaguar will produce only 250 units of the C-X75 between 2013 and 2015 at its Jaguar plant in the UK and Williams in Grove, Oxfordshire.
"We were always determined that the Jaguar C-X75 would be as striking on the road as it was in concept form," Ian Callum, design director at Jaguar, said in a statement. "This will be the finest looking and most innovative Jaguar ever produced. Even in the world of super cars, we can still produce the most beautiful."