NEW DELHI : For the first time in 54 years, Tata Motor’s British subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will assemble Range Rover and Range Rover Sport SUVs outside the UK. The two Range Rovers now join models such as Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar F-PACE and Discovery Sport that are locally manufactured at JLR’s facility in Pune, Maharashtra.
The Defender SUV, which is one of JLR’s best-selling models globally and in India, however, will continue to be fully imported. Also, the upcoming Range Rover electric as well as the ‘SV’ vehicles will roll out from the Solihull plant, UK.
The move, according to JLR, will enable the clientele in India to benefit from shorter wait times for Range Rover vehicles. This will also reduce the prices of the two SUVs by 18-22% or up to Rs 56 lakh due to lower taxes. The Range Rover family cars in India are priced between 67.90 lakh (starting price for Range Rover Evoque) and Rs 2.36 crore (starting price for New Range Rover). “Manufacturing Range Rovers in India should send a signal about how serious we are about Indian market,” said N. Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Group. He expressed gratitude to the vision of Ratan Tata, who brought JLR to India 15 years ago.
Currently, India’s luxury car market is dominated by German brands such as Mercedes, BMW and Audi. As per industry estimates, luxury carmakers sold little over 45,000 units in FY24 with market leader Mercedes dispatching over 18,000 units. JLR India achieved sales of 4,436 units last fiscal, its highest sales in 5 years.
Defender SUV to be imported
The Defender SUV, which is one of JLR’s best-selling models globally and in India, however, will continue to be fully imported. Also, the upcoming Range Rover electric as well as the ‘SV’ vehicles will roll out from the Solihull plant, UK