Jaguar Land Rover is to train 29,000 employees to work on electric cars in the next three years.

The car giant said the move would support the “rapid transition” to electrification.

The Future Skills Programme will train more than 10,000 Jaguar Land Rover and franchised retailer employees in the UK and nearly 19,000 across the rest of the world, in skills vital to electrification, digital and autonomous cars.

Barbara Bergmeier, Jaguar Land Rover industrial operations executive director, said: “Our plans to electrify our product portfolio are running at pace, and we are rapidly scaling up our Future Skills training programme to ensure we have the right talent to deliver the world’s most desirable modern luxury electric vehicles.

“Developing the skilled global workforces needed to design, build and maintain the vehicles of the future is foundational.

“I’m proud to say we are committing to help plug the electric and digital skills gap with a comprehensive global training programme, which will power charge electrification both here in the UK and abroad.”

The company said its skills programme was vital to make all Jaguar and Land Rover luxury cars available in pure electric form by the end of the decade.

Currently around 80% of nearly 1,300 franchised Jaguar Land Rover retailers around the world offer electric vehicle servicing.

The company said that to tackle the skills gaps, it is ensuring that most servicing technicians will receive electrification training this year.