Tata Motors says JLR ready for supply shocks, no US plant despite tariff hit; Avinya EVs delayed to late 2025

Tata Motors Group on Tuesday said its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) arm is better prepared to tackle current global supply chain disruptions, including those arising from the West Asia conflict, China’s rare earth curbs and tariff wars, drawing on lessons learnt during the semiconductor shortage of the COVID-19 era.Group CFO PB Balaji said JLR is not planning to set up a manufacturing unit in the US, despite facing a steep tariff hike on exports to that market. “As far as the manufacturing footprint is concerned, there are no plans at this point in time for any US site of any sort,” Balaji said at the company’s media interaction.He noted that supply chains have undergone “shock testing” during the semiconductor crisis of 2022-23 and added, “Internally, we are equipped to process it better. That doesn’t mean we will not have a problem. It just means that we’ll be able to cope with it better.”Balaji acknowledged that a 10% tariff — up from 2.5% — would impact US volumes. “I do expect some amount of volume shrink… some degree of demand elasticity will be there,” he said, adding that JLR currently exports around one lakh units to the US from the UK, PTI reported.He said JLR would mitigate the impact through market activation and demand rerouting to the UK, Europe and the Middle East, where the Israel-Iran conflict hasn’t significantly affected sales yet. The company also plans a cost management programme which will take 12–18 months to fully implement.On the issue of China’s export restrictions on rare earth magnets — a critical component in EV manufacturing — Balaji said JLR is not facing production cuts and “we’re not pressing any panic button,” citing stable supplies and alternate sourcing.Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and EV Managing Director Shailesh Chandra said the company is “comfortable for the next few months more from a stock perspective” and hasn’t altered EV launch plans. “There’s no trigger to change our plans,” he said, adding that both the Harrier.ev launch and the Sierra.ev rollout remain on track.Chandra confirmed that the auto industry is engaging with the Indian government and its envoy in China to resolve the rare earth issue. “In the mid to long term, there are multiple solutions… we are working with the government in terms of being more self-sufficient,” he said.He added that alternate sourcing from other countries was also being explored.On the delay in Tata’s Avinya brand EVs, Chandra said the launch has been pushed due to feasibility issues in certain subsystems, which required additional engineering and architectural changes. The Avinya EVs are now expected by late 2025 or early 2026.