(Reuters) - Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will invest 500 million pounds ($669.6 million) to support parallel production of electric vehicles at its Halewood facility as part of its electrification strategy, the British luxury carmaker said on Thursday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

This investment coincides with increasing pressure on carmakers to accelerate electrification, particularly in China, where competition in the EV market is intensifying.

CONTEXT

The group plans to invest 18 billion pound in EVs by 2028 and has promised to deliver a new electric Jaguar in 2025.

The investment also aligns with JLR's "Reimagine" strategy, which aims to electrify all its brands by 2030 and achieve carbon net zero across its supply chain, products and operations by 2039.

KEY QUOTES

"Halewood will be our first all-electric production facility, and it is a testament to the brilliant efforts by our teams and suppliers who have worked together to equip the plant with the technology needed to deliver our world class luxury electric vehicles", Barbara Bergmeier, executive director, industrial operations at JLR said.

WHAT'S NEXT

The carmaker said it has invested £250 million to transform its Merseyside site for producing medium-sized electric luxury SUVs. The plant features new EV build lines, 750 autonomous robots, and cloud-based plant management systems.

($1 = 0.7468 pounds)