Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has delayed the launch of its much-anticipated electric Range Rover as it cuts 500 jobs in the UK.
According to the Telegraph of London’s report on Friday, Customers who had expressed an interest in buying the new model have been told it will now arrive in 2026, having previously been told orders would start in 2025.
JLR is also reportedly pushing back production of its revamped electric Jaguars following a controversial rebranding involving a pink concept car that critics said ditched the marque’s heritage.
The new production vehicle, which has not been unveiled, is now set to go into production in August 2026, according to the Guardian.
The new Range Rover will be the first fully electric Land Rover vehicle, and the first in an electric relaunch, after the company ended production of its existing battery-powered Jaguar models.
It comes after JLR confirmed on Thursday that it was cutting 500 jobs in the UK. The news was damaging for Sir Keir Starmer, who had vowed to protect JLR jobs as part of a US trade deal.
The company said it would offer voluntary redundancy to managers, calling it “part of normal business practice”.
Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said the news was a “personal embarrassment” for the Prime Minister.
JLR’s sales have fallen by 15pc in recent months after the company briefly suspended exports to the US, resulting from Donald Trump increasing car tariffs.
Range Rover’s website said until recently that customers on a waiting list would be able to pre-order the electric model in 2025, but has updated it to say this would not happen until 2026.
A JLR spokesman said: “By 2030, JLR will sell electric versions of all its luxury brands. Our plans and vehicle architectures are flexible so we can adapt to different market and client demands.
“We are committed to the highest standards of design, capability and quality, and we will launch our new models at the right time for our clients, our business and individual markets.”
EV demand slumps
The electric Range Rover, which is rumoured to cost as much as £170,000, is not designed to be a radical departure from existing models, unlike the new Jaguar models. The company demonstrated the car to motoring reviewers earlier this week and said 62,000 people are on the waiting list to buy it.
Jaguar released a pioneering electric model, the I-Pace, in 2018, but ceased production last year as it prepares to relaunch the brand.
JLR is owned by Tata. A subsidiary of Tata, JLR’s Indian owner, is building a gigafactory in Somerset that will provide batteries for electric Land Rovers cars.
The delay to the launch of the electric Range Rover comes lower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles (EVs).
Electric car sales rose by a third in the UK in the first half of 2025 but are below Government targets, which mandate that EVs must account for 28pc of all new car sales this year.
