New Jaguar models to be electric from 2020

Every new Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicle line launched from 2020 will be electric or hybrid, the company announced on Thursday.

The carmaker said that the first of the new models would be a fully electric vehicle, the Jaguar I-Pace, to go on sale in 2018.

JLR chief executive Ralf Speth said the move was aimed at "giving customers even more choice".

The firm, Britain's biggest carmaker, is owned by India's Tata.

In July, Chinese-owned firm Volvo said all its new models would have an electric motor from 2019, one year earlier than Jaguar's deadline.

However, both Volvo and JLR will still be manufacturing earlier models that have combustion engines.

"The internal combustion engine is state of the art," Mr Speth said. "We will see this internal combustion engine, petrols and diesels, for many years to come."

Jaguar said it had also engineered an electric version of the classic Jaguar E-type car, known as the E-type Zero. However, it was intended as a concept car and would not be available for sale.

Mr Speth was asked about how he viewed the Brexit talks. He said: "I trust that, at the end of the day, politicians are interested in a better society for their inhabitants."

He pointed out that the company sources 40 per cent of its components from the European Union, which is also its most important export market.

"It is crucially important that there is free and fair trade for Jaguar Land Rover."