Jaguar Land Rover will build Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models in India, the first country outside of the UK to produce the brand’s luxury SUVs.
The move will help the British marque fulfil growing demand from Asian buyers. Currently, neighbouring China is JLR’s biggest retail market, with 104,123 sales last year (up 14.4% year on year), and India one of its biggest growers, with an 81% year-on-year increase (4436 sales).
Currently built at only JLR’s Solihull Plant, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models will be assembled – expected to be from knock-down kits – at parent company Tata Motors’ Pune plant, located near Mumbai in western India.
The plant has been assembling other JLR models for more than a decade, starting with the Land Rover Freelander 2 in 2011. The Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar F-Pace and Discovery Sport are currently produced there.
This will enable a big jump in Range Rover volumes for the region, JLR told Autocar, as well as bringing down prices - currently inflated by transport costs. A production target has not yet been announced.
The brand added: "Locally manufacturing Range Rover in India will enable JLR to better respond to growing client demand for our modern luxury vehicles with shorter waiting times. Locally manufactured Range Rovers will not be shipped outside of India. This additional production for the Indian market will supplement the global production of Range Rover which remains in Solihull."
Manufacturing of Range Rovers in India should “send a signal of the confidence we have in India”, Tata boss Natarajan Chandrasekaran told Autocar India.
JLR announces locally assembly of latest Range Rover and Range Rover Sport at Tata Motors’ Pune plant. India first country outside UK to produce Range Rovers. pic.twitter.com/ooblmSSr3I
— Hormazd Sorabjee (@hormazdsorabjee) May 24, 2024
The news follows a Reuters report last month that suggested JLR will build cars from scratch, rather than just being assembled from kits, at a new Tata-owned factory in Tamil Nadu, southern India.
It is not yet known which models could be built there and JLR declined to comment on the Reuters report when contacted by Autocar.
It would make sense for the brand to use the plant for its best-sellers, such as the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Land Rover Defender models. The Defender is already built outside of the UK, in Nitra, Slovakia.
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