Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company, Tata, has issued the UK government a stern ultimatum: Either pay over half a billion pounds (around $600 million) in state aid to help build a new battery factory in the southwest part of the country, or it will build it in Spain.
According to the Financial Times, Tata’s executives have given the UK government only weeks to confirm its financial support. The aid package Tata demands reportedly includes “grants and support packages such as assistance for energy costs and research funding.”
The government might have no choice but to cut a deal for one key reason: JLR is the largest employer in the country’s auto manufacturing industry and only recently returned to profit. Losing the new EV factory would mean the loss of thousands of new and existing jobs. Tata is also keenly aware of the UK’s difficulties transitioning from combustion-engined vehicles to EVs.