JLR Moves Closer to US Manufacturing Presence With Stellantis MoxU as Trump Tariffs Bite: Report

More than ten years after first considering a manufacturing base in North America, Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) appears to be edging toward establishing an assembly presence in the United States as rising tariffs continue to redraw the global automotive map, says a report by Money Control. On May 20, JLR signed a memorandum of understanding with Franco-Italian automaker Stellantis to explore collaboration in product development in the US, potentially opening the door to capacity sharing and local manufacturing arrangements.

North America is JLR's single largest market, accounting for more than 28 percent of its annual wholesale volumes as of the end of FY26. Yet unlike the UK and China, two other major markets where it already has production facilities, JLR has no manufacturing footprint in the US, a gap that has grown into a strategic liability under the trade policies of US President Donald Trump.

Speaking at Stellantis' Investor Day 2026 on May 21, Chief Executive Officer Antonio Filosa, who also serves as executive director for North America and American Brands, indicated the partnership could extend well beyond product development.

"Partnerships are meant to be multiplier of forces in many fields," Filosa said.

In April 2025, Washington imposed a 25 per cent tariff on vehicles not made domestically, significantly pushing up costs for imported luxury cars. The effect on JLR was swift: North America wholesale volumes fell 22 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of FY26 as tariff pressures weighed on both demand and margins.

Industry experts interpreted the remarks as a strong signal that JLR could look to use Stellantis' existing US manufacturing capacity rather than committing billions to a greenfield plant of its own.

The tariff picture has grown more complex for JLR despite a separate US-UK trade arrangement struck in May 2025. 

Under that deal, UK-built cars entering the US attract a reduced tariff of 10 percent on up to 100,000 units annually. However, that threshold was already exceeded in 2024, limiting the benefit for British automakers including JLR. Imports beyond the quota face a combined tariff burden of 27.5 percent.