JLR Budgets £4.5 Billion for New Models, Tech, Production

Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. says it will spend £4.5 billion ($6 billion) on product development, new technologies and manufacturing facilities in the fiscal year that began April 1.

The affiliate of Tata Motors Ltd. invested £4.2 billion ($5.6 billion) in those pursuits during the previous 12-month period. CEO Ralf Speth says the company will continue its “over-proportional” spending indefinitely as it rushes to implement electrification, autonomous driving and connected-vehicle technologies.

Unit sales in the full fiscal year rose 2% to 614,300 units, led by increases of 20% in China and 5% in North America. The gain compared with a 16% jump in global sales in the prior 12 month.

JLR’s revenue for the year ended March 31 climbed 6% to £26 billion ($34.5 billion). But pretax profits fell 6% to €1.5 billion, including a 46% drop in the final quarter.