Jaguar Land Rover could use available production capacity at a Stellantis factory. Antonio Filosa confirmed that the two groups are evaluating a collaboration involving a specific plant, although he did not identify the site, its location or the vehicles that could use it. He made the comments on September 10 during the Jefferies Global Industrials Conference.
JLR could use a Stellantis plant as talks over production capacity advance
The talks add a possible manufacturing project to a relationship the two companies had already started to explore. On May 20, Stellantis and JLR signed a non-binding memorandum to evaluate joint work on products and technologies for the United States. That agreement only opened the door to possible cooperation and left the details of individual projects to later negotiations.
Sharing a plant could also help Stellantis address an issue Filosa has highlighted several times. Some of the group’s factories currently operate below their available capacity, and Stellantis wants new models from its own brands to fill more of those lines. If those programs do not generate enough volume, the company is also willing to bring in production from outside automakers.
A US manufacturing arrangement could prove especially attractive to JLR, since the British automaker does not operate its own vehicle assembly plant in the country. Building some models locally could reduce exposure to import tariffs, while using an existing factory would avoid the cost and complexity of constructing a new one from scratch. Filosa, however, did not confirm that the plant under discussion is in the United States.
The two companies would gain different advantages from such an agreement. JLR could access existing production lines and manufacturing expertise, while Stellantis could increase plant utilization without relying entirely on sales of its own vehicles. The final choice of factory would depend on how well its current equipment and processes match the needs of the vehicles involved.
Stellantis is already following a similar strategy with other partners in Europe. The Dongfeng project involves Rennes, while Madrid forms part of the industrial plans linked to Leapmotor. Filosa has also identified shared manufacturing capacity as one of the tools that FaSTLAne 2030 can use to improve factory utilization.
The next stage of the JLR talks will determine whether the same approach can work at another Stellantis site. The fact that the discussions now focus on a specific factory makes the project more concrete, but key details remain unknown, including the production program, required investment and possible launch timing.
