British marque Jaguar to become pure electric by 2025

British premium marque Jaguar will be producing pure electric models only four years from now, as part of Jaguar Land Rover's electrification plans to become carbon neutral by 2039, said its CEO Thierry Bollore on Monday.

Land Rover will launch six pure electric models in five years, with the first one to roll out in 2024, he said. Around 60 percent of Land Rover vehicles sold will feature zero-emission powertrains by 2030.

The carmaker will build a new electric vehicle-dedicated platform for Jaguar and two platforms for Land Rover, Bollore said.

China will prove important for the carmaker as it transitions towards electrification, according to analysts.

The country has been the world's largest market for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, which has been so far dominated by Tesla and local Chinese companies.

Last year, 1.37 million electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids were sold in the country, and the figure is estimated to reach 1.8 million in 2021, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Bollore did not elaborate how the carmaker will compete in the market but he said electrification will help its performance in China, one of its most important markets globally.

"In China we have great performances and even greater potential is left untapped," Bollore told China Daily.

He admitted that Jaguar is less known in the country compared with Land Rover, whose products "Chinese customers appreciate very much".

But Bollore said the carmaker has specific thinking about Jaguar's development in China as it prepares for the renaissance of the brand globally.

Jaguar Land Rover has been producing vehicles in China since 2014. Its Changshu plant in East China's Jiangsu province has an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles.

Bollore said the carmaker has "a clear ambition and determination to make better use of it". He did not offer details about how much investment may be needed at the plant for the new strategy and when it will start producing electric models.

Globally, Jaguar Land Rover plans to invest around 2.87 billion euros ($3.48 billion) each year in electrification technologies, connected services and data-centric technologies.