The UK-based subsidiary of Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) opened its first assembly plant in India on May 27th, 2011. The luxury carmaker, JLR will initially start with the assembly of its best selling model Freelander 2 sports utility vehicles from completely knocked down units (CKD) at its Pune plant. The completely knocked down (CKD) kits would come from JLR’s Halewood plant in UK.
The assembled SUVs will roughly cost Rs.4-5 lakh lower than its currently fully imported versions. According to Ralf Speth, CEO, Jaguar Land Rover, India is “the second home market” for JLR and a desired destination for sourcing components. Speth also commented it was a great time for the company to expand its operations in India due to the booming Indian economy and the increase in the demand for luxury products.
The Pune plant which has the capacity to assemble 15 Land Rovers daily will only assemble 5, to begin with. Available in India in two variants, Freelander 2 would start from Rs. 33.89 lakh in Mumbai, ex-showroom price. The company plans to have 14 outlets in 12 major cities in India by September 2011. Currently the company is in talks with the government for formulating a new duty regime for assembling of the CKD units in India.
