Jaguar Land Rover models to be electric or hybrid from 2020

New (KOSDAQ: 160550.KQ - news) vehicle lines from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will either be electric or hybrid from 2020, the luxury carmaker has revealed.

It comes two months after Volvo announced a similar plan from 2019.

It means new models developed by JLR will either be pure electric, or hybrids that combine electric and conventional engines.

The company next year releases its first fully electric Jaguar - the I-PACE (LSE: 4031.L - news) .

JLR chief executive Ralf Speth said the move would give customers greater choice.

"We will introduce a portfolio of electrified products across our model range, embracing fully electric, plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid vehicles," he said.

But existing models that use pure petrol and diesel engines will still be made.

Mr Speth told Sky News: "Petrol and diesel engines will continue.

"The internal combustion engine is not at an end. We have to do both, we have to refine the internal combustion engine and simultaneously research and develop even more competitive petro-electric vehicles.

"At the end of the day, the banning of petrol and diesel cars announced for 2040 gives a direction.

"But it's also quiet clear that at the moment there are no better engines than the petrol and diesel."

The Government recently confirmed plans to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars in the UK from 2040 - with the aim of getting them off the roads altogether by 2050.

JLR, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Motors (BSE: TATAMOTORS.BO - news) , employs 40,000 people worldwide and is the UK's biggest car manufacturer.

Its three vehicle plants - in Liverpool and the West Midlands - made more than 544,000 cars in 2016.

Latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show 71,497 new alternatively fuelled vehicles have been bought in the UK so far this year.

This represents a market share of 4.4%, up from 3.2% last year.

Sky (Frankfurt: 893517 - news) 's Business Presenter Ian King said: "A lot of people will say that Jaguar Land Rover have come late to the electric vehicle party.

"But JLR is clearly confident that the design of its vehicles will ensure it grabs a significant chunk of this important market.

"Today's announcement also, however, serves as a reminder that Britain, as a country, seriously needs to start preparing for the electric future.

"Generation capacity will need to be increased and charging infrastructure built up. This is going to be a challenge for local, as well as national, government - not to mention the energy industry."