- Car manufacturers are competing for a £900 million contract in the UK.
- New military 4x4s will replace old Land Rover models currently in service.
- With sales slipping, JLR would benefit greatly from a big military contract.
The defense spending boom rolling through Europe and North America is doing more than enrich the usual suspects, the weapons contractors. It is pulling automakers back into a sector most of them walked away from years ago, with Jaguar Land Rover and General Motors now circling the same prize.
Both are chasing a £900 million ($1.2 billion) UK contract to supply thousands of 4x4s as replacements for the aging Land Rover fleet still in service across the British armed forces. The UK is on track to push defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035, and the new trucks would go to the navy, air force, and army.
Read: Governments Are Tired Of Expensive Military Trucks. Ford Has A Cheaper Idea
It’s been more than a decade since Jaguar Land Rover last produced military vehicles and a big military contract could come at just the right time for the company. Global sales across the JLR family dropped roughly 17 percent last year to just 324,000 vehicles globally and profits have slumped more than 99 percent across the year through to March.
Speaking with The Guardian, key JLR managing director Mark Cameron said the automaker would “again begin supplying UK-designed and -engineered light logistics vehicles for people and equipment transportation for the defense and blue light sectors.”
GM And Ineos Join The Bidding
Competing with JLR for the contract is General Motors. It’s putting in a bid alongside British defense company BAE Systems and NP Aerospace, which manages the current Land Rover fleet. If GM’s bid is successful, it would export Chevrolet trucks from the US to the UK and then modify them to meet the requirements of the British military.
Initially, the deal between the three companies would include an allocation of roughly 3,000 vehicles, including armored reconnaissance vehicles and others used for patrols and logistics. Eventually, these Chevy models could replace all of the 7,800 trucks from Land Rover and Pinzgauer currently used by the nation’s armed forces.
Ineos also sees dollar signs. It has partnered with defense company SMT to also bid for the contract, and could use the Grenadier as the basis for a new military vehicle.
