Jaguar Land Rover will get a 500 million pound ($670 million) state-backed loan to support the automaker in its shift to building electric vehicles.
The five-year loan will help to boost JLR’s research, development and export of battery-powered cars as part of the country’s Export Development Guarantee program, UK Export Finance said Monday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is eager to build up a local battery-making industry as the UK prepares to ban sales of new gasonline and diesel cars in 2030.
JLR plans to electrify its lineup and ditch combustion engines at Jaguar , the smaller of its two brands, by 2025. Land Rover will get its first full-electric model in 2024.
The automaker plans to invest about $3.3 billion a year, expected to reach $4 billion by March 2026, to increase the number of battery-electric vehicles in its model lineup under its Reimagine strategy.
JLR reported a $12 million loss before tax for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of 439 million pounds in the same quarter last year, as global semiconductor shortages continued to hit sales.
