JLR Plans $18 Billion Product Spending Blitz

Tata Motors Ltd.’s Jaguar Land Rover unit says it will spend £4.5 billion ($6 billion) per year over the next three years to expand its product portfolio and add electric models.

JLR tells investors that its product spending after 2021 will moderate to about 13% of sales.

The company intends to expand its lineup to 16 models by 2024 from 12 currently. The first two new additions will be the just-introduced all-electric Jaguar I-Pace sporty crossover vehicle and upcoming redesigned Land Rover Defender SUV.

The British carmaker notes that its sales growth has slowed and profits declined over the past three years. The company blames slumping demand for diesels, increasing competition from other European luxury brands and a cooling English economy as the U.K. prepares to exit the European Union next spring.

JLR, which Tata acquired from Ford Motor Co. in 2008, has been generating more than half of the Indian carmaker’s revenue and roughly 90% of its operating profit in recent years. But the English company’s operating margin fell to 3.8% at the end of the last fiscal year ended March 31.