JLR has announced that its plant in Nitra, Slovakia, will be reconfigured for electrification and is expected to build electric Defenders and Discoverys.
It’s seven years since Jaguar Land Rover announced a new Plant in Nitra, Slovakia, and its intention to build the Land Rover Discovery there.
Two years later, the Nitra Plant opened after an investment of £1 billion and has already produced more than 365,000 Land Rover Discovery and Land Rover Defender models, although it has the capacity for more, with the Land Rover Defender exclusively produced there.
Clearly, as the Nitra-produced Defender is JLR’s best-selling model, the idea at the time production was moved to Nitra that producing Land Rovers outside the UK would hurt sales has not transpired.
Now, as JLR moves to EVs, they have announced that the Nitra Plant will be reconfigured for electrification and is expected to build, at least, the new electric Defender and new electric Discovery when they arrive in the coming years.
This announcement is part of JLR’s Reimagine Strategy, with the electric versions of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport (and the new electric Jaguar GT) to be built in Solihull, Halewood building electric Range Rover Velar and Evoque – and Discovery Sport – and the new Future Energy Lab in Whitley, which has just opened, will develop Electric Drive Units.
JLR’s Barbara Bergmeie said:
I am thrilled to announce that our fantastic state-of-the-art plant in Nitra will be producing electric vehicles this decade as part of our electrification strategy. This is a vote of confidence in the plant’s 5,000 skilled and dedicated people and demonstrates the key role Nitra plays in our current successful performance. I also want to thank our suppliers, who have followed us to Nitra and supported our increases in production.
