Rumour: Land Rover to manufacture SUVs in India

Recent media reports suggest that Jaguar Land Rover India is mulling over the chances to manufacture Land Rover SUVs in India. Currently, JLR assembles its Sedans and SUVs from imported kits at a plant outside Pune. With local production, JLR will be able to place its products at a more aggressive price tag.

The British automaker is also in talks with its component suppliers about the feasibility of developing a mini version of the Land Rover Defender for the Indian market. The company is currently undergoing internal discussions about these plans, while a small team of JLR engineers has contacted its component vendors about the quality and cost of components for domestic production. If these plans do materialize, the mini Defender will be launched in India by 2019-20. It will likely be manufactured at Tata Motors' Pune plant.

JLR has acknowledged the fact that Indian customers are showing a significant inclination towards SUVs in the luxury segment. This is the customer section that the company is targeting through the locally produced mini Defender.

Jaguar Land Rover has been introducing new products placed in the entry-level section of its portfolio. The Jaguar XE sedan and the Range Rover Evoque have helped the automaker to expand its footprint in the global as well as Indian car market. The mini Defender might further help the Tata motors owned automaker to achieve its target of a million sales annually.

Source: ET Auto