Jaguar-Land Rover assembly plant opens in India, Freelander 2 SUV is the first to roll out

The times when it could be made out where a luxury car has originated from just by looking at it is now passe. In fact, luxury cars being manufactured in the country where its makers are based in used to be one of the USPs of the car. But not anymore, as nowadays we can find a BMW being built in China, India, South Africa and the USA while Mercedes-Benz too has set up manufacturing plants in countries such as Russia, Thailand, Egypt and so on.

The latest one to join the group of being globalized is the Jaguar-Land Rover group, which launched its first Indian factory recently. A Land Rover Freelander 2 SUV was the first one to roll out of the factory, which is located just outside Pune in the Maharashtra. For a refresher, Ford Motor Co. had sold Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata Motors in 2008 after having incurred US$15 billion worth of losses in two years.

Tata Motors strongly believes that the assembly of Land Rover models in India will give the company a better edge to compete against the German rivals such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, all of which build vehicles in India.

“We are excited about the prospect of assembling cars in Pune for the Indian market where we have achieved significant growth since we opened our first showroom in 2009,” says Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover. “It is a great time to be expanding our operation in India due to the increasing demand for luxury products and the strength of the Indian economy.”

The factory in Pune will tune up Land Rover Freelander 2 vehicles supplied in Complete Knock Down (CKD) form brought from Halewood manufacturing plant located in Liverpool, UK. The SUV will be available in India in two variants, the TD4 SE Automatic and the SD4 HSE Automatic. The cars will bear a price tag starting from INR 3.39 million, which is about 15 percent lower than the current models that are imported.

Also according to the recent media reports, Jaguar Land Rover is looking forward to construct a new engine plant in India as well, though there is no such confirmation from the company.

Source: carscoop