Wednesday 5 February 2014

JLR to make XJ in India this year

JaguarLandRover (JLR) will start assembly of a third model at its factory in India by the end of this year.

Chief executive officer Ralf Speth said that the flagship Jaguar XJ will join the XF and Land Rover Freelander models already being made at the plant in Pune. 

Both brands are “struggling” to keep up with global demand and JLR is utilising all the capacity it can in the UK and India before new assembly operations open up in China and Brazil.

Local assembly in India is also important as import taxes can double the price of vehicles. The factory in Pune is owned by JLR parent company Tata Motors and will help meet growing demand in India.

Speth said: "Our sales grew 21 per cent last year and we expect to increase that further with more local production. We are also increasing our dealer numbers up from 19 across 17 cities to 24 by the end of this year."

Freelander has been assembled in Pune since 2010 and it was joined by the XF last year. From the end of this year, Pune will make 3-litre diesel and 2-litre petrol versions of XJ.


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