Industry

British Embassy promotes Jaguar Land Rover’s I-Pace EV

British Ambassador to Korea Simon Smith, right, and Jaguar Land Rover Korea CEO Baek Jung-hyun pose with the automaker’s electric vehicle, the I-Pace, on Monday at the British Embassy, central Seoul. The I-Pace will be displayed at this year’s Seoul Motor Show, which kicks off on March 29 at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi. [NEWS 1]

The British Embassy in Seoul said Monday that it will help Jaguar Land Rover promote its all-electric vehicle (EV) in Korea amid rising demands for eco-friendly cars.

The embassy kicked off a five-day “Green is Great” campaign in order to highlight areas of cooperation in the low-carbon sector between Britain and Korea, British Ambassador to Korea Simon Smith said at a press event.

“In the coming years, electric, autonomous and zero-emission vehicles will not only transform the way we travel, they will also clean up our air. How we accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles - and ensure cleaner air for all our people - is then one of the most pressing issues in modern transport,” Smith said.

The I-Pace, Jaguar’s first all-electric sport-utility vehicle, will appear at a local automobile sports association, an autonomous driving test site named “K-City,” and a local future car exhibition before it moves to the Kintex exhibition hall Ilsan, Gyeonggi.

The British company, owned by Indian carmaker Tata Motors, said it plans to launch the I-PACE pure electric SUV in the Korean market as early as in late March, when the Korean government is expected to approve the sale of the emission-free car.

The EV drive by the British embassy comes after Jaguar Land Rover Korea posted a 73 percent year-on-year plunge in Jaguar model sales in the January-February period.

Britain is a global leader in the development and manufacture of ultra-low-emissions vehicles. In 2018, one in five battery electric cars sold in Europe was made in Britain.

Britain has recently set a target for all of its new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040.

Trade between Korea and Britain is worth around $18.6 billion a year.

Yonhap