The British luxury car maker, Jaguar Land Rover which is owned by Tata Motors is now planning to build its own manufacturing base in India, a manufacturing base where they will be building vehicles from scratch. This clearly points out one thing- Jaguar and Land Rover cars are going to become cheaper to own in India! But there is still time to jump with excitement because it seems that the company’s plans are at a very preliminary stage. Tata Motors hasn’t made any official statement on this aspect till now. The report which quoted the possibility of Jaguar Land Rover producing cars in India appeared on the Wall Street Journal which stated, “Like Brazil, India is one of the possibilities for Jaguar Land Rover to fully manufacture cars,” a person close to the development told The Wall Street Journal”. This reaction might an effect of the 2013-14 Indian Union Budget which makes Luxury Cars and Motorcycles crazy expansive.
Currently, Jaguar Land Rover only assembles CKD units of some cars at Tata Motor’s Chakan facility with parts imported from Britain. With import duties been risen further this Budget, it makes would make a great deal of sense to start a parallel manufacturing base in India too. Sales of jaguar land Rover have especially seen a tremendous growth in the Indian car market the past couple of years. Jaguar Land Rover’s total sales in 2012 stood at a record of 57,773 vehicles, a 30% year-on-year rise which was led by strong demand emerging in China, Britain and the United States. Other manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes and Audi have already set up manufacturing bases in India for catering to the domestic and export markets. With Jaguar coming in, the luxury sedan car segment will surely become more competitive for the Germans.
Tata Motors had purchased Jaguar Land Rover from the Ford group of companies in 2008 for $2.3 billion as part of plans to expand its reach beyond Asia. With the hike in the duties on the luxury cars, it is expected that more and more luxury car makers will try and set up a wider assembly and manufacturing base in India for the luxury cars targeted to Indian customers. Not only luxury car makers, but also car makers who sell SUVs have been impacted and they will have to re-think their strategy for India. Stay tuned to Car Blog India for updates.
Also read- SUV Price Increase Expected After In Budget 2013-14 and Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Get Subsidy Benefits.
