Coronavirus: Jaguar Land Rover lends 160 cars to Red Cross, NHS

Jaguar Land Rover is deploying more than 160 vehicles – including the new Land Rover Defender – globally for use by emergency response groups tackling the coronavirus outbreak.

The manufacturer has already given the British Red Cross access to 57 vehicles, including 27 Defenders, for delivering food and medicine to vulnerable and elderly people. Another 65 vehicles are supporting Red Cross efforts in Australia, France, South Africa and Spain.

JLR is also loaning vehicles to the National Health Service and emergency services to support local efforts and donating protective equipment including safety glasses to a number of NHS hospitals. It's aiming to deploy futher vehicles in the coming weeks.

The vehicles handed over to the Red Cross and NHS have been taken from the JLR press fleet and include Defenders intended for use on now-postponed launch events.

Simon Lewis, head of crisis response for the British Red Cross, said the "generous support" will allow its teams "to reach even more people living in isolated communities than we could alone".

Like other UK manufacturers, JLR is working with the UK government to offer its expertise in a wide range of research, engineering and production areas. These include digital engineering and design, 3D model printing and prototypes, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Land Rover has a long relationship with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies that dates back more than 65 years.