Jaguar to go local, build cars in India

Jaguar Land Rover the two British brands now owned by Indian auto maker Tata Motors is getting ambitious and plans to increase its share in the Indian market. To do so the company now plans to start local assembly of the Jaguar luxury cars in the Indian market. The comes almost a year after starting local assembly of the Freelander 2, its sports utility vehicle.

The first model under the Jaguar brand will the new facelifted Jaguar XF Diesel variant which is the main seller in the Jag portfolio. Beginning of next fiscal Jaguar will use the company’s facility in Chikhali near Pune, where Tata Motors has been assembling the Freelander 2 since May 2011. JLR will import kits from UK facilities and the final assembly will happen in the Indian plant.

Jaguar XF competes with the likes of Audi A6, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class which have been selling in 100 units per month. The Jaguar XF does command a premium over the rivals in terms of price.

The company plans more models to be assembled in the Indian market. The next model most probably could be the Evoque SUV.

With the rising millionaires in the Indian market JLR is looking to up its ante and also target more units per month.