According to foreign media reports, a few days ago, Tata Motors of India, the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover, said that the rare earth export restrictions imposed by China have not yet caused it to fall into a “panic”Electric vehicleThe release plan is still progressing as scheduled.
Tata Motors Chief Financial Officer PB Balaji said at an event in Mumbai recently: “At this time, we don’t think there is any need to panic, because the supply chain is still running, there is no production reduction, and there are no plans to adjust production at this stage. ”
Image source: Tata Motors official website
He said that Tata Motors’ electric vehicle launch plan is still on the established route, but it may be re-evaluated if the supply of rare earths deteriorates significantly. At the same time, the company has begun to investigate other sources of rare earth magnet supply, including alternative technologies.
Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Cars and its electric vehicle subsidiary, revealed that the company is studying how to reduce the proportion of rare earth magnets in cars, and is committed to achieving a technological breakthrough of complete rare earth de-earth in the long term.
At present, China occupies an absolute dominant position in the global rare earth magnet processing, controlling more than 90% of the core rare earths required by the automotive, clean energy and home appliance industriesCapacity。 In April this year, as a countermeasure to impose high tariffs on the United States, China implemented new rare earth export control regulations, requiring relevant enterprises to obtain import licenses issued by the government.
China’s implementation of rare earth export controls has had an impact on the global automotive industry chain. A number of car companies warned that this move would trigger a shortage of key raw materials. Rare earth magnets are widely used in the automotive sector as a core functional component, from wiper motors to anti-lock brake sensors.
According to reports earlier this month, India’s largest car company, Maruti Suzuki, has cut its near-term production target for its electric model e-Vitara by two-thirds due to a shortage of rare earths.
In addition, on the issue of US tariffs, Tata Motors Chief Financial Officer Balaji pointed out that Jaguar Land Rover will raise prices in a “gradual manner” to cope with the impact of tariff increases, but there are no plans to set up a production base in the United States.
It is worth noting that due to the uncertainty of the global automotive industry, Jaguar Land Rover recently lowered its EBIT margin forecast for fiscal year 2026 from the previous 10% to 5%-7%.