When Tata first took over Jaguar Land Rover, we could have sworn that Tata Motors would be smart enough to begin local assembly of their luxury cars, however it has been 3 years now and still we have only now just received word that the plan is in starting phase. And now Mahindra, after taking over Korean manufacturer Ssanyong, are also thinking of bringing in local assembly of their cars. Finally Indian manufacturers are getting the picture. Ssangyong will become an integral part of Mahindra when they launch their assembly plant in the country and begin local production of their cars. This will also significantly help Mahindra with their R&D as we have already seen glimpses of this with the XUV500. Apparently $1.2 billion will be spent in the next three years to develop their plans into full swing. The low cost manufacturing of their vehicle might change the entire game in India as Ssanyong is known to make quality SUVs and other vehicles. Rumours are also abound that the two companies are working on a compact SUV which would have a price range of around Rs 4 lakh. Now that’s what we like and that’s what we should expect when Indian manufacturers take over foreign talent. We hope other manufacturers are taking notes.
