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Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) today launched its sports car Jaguar F TYPE priced up to Rs 1.61 crore (ex-showroom Mumbai), while it mulls over assembling more models in India.
The Jaguar F TYPE will be available in two variants. The F Type V8S powered by a 5 litre petrol engine will be priced at Rs 1.61 crore (ex-showroom Mumbai), while the F TYPE S with a V6 3-litre petrol engine will be available for Rs 1.37 crore (ex-showroom Mumbai).
"The launch of F TYPE is significant for Jaguar as we are looking at a lot of premeditated spin-off benefits, primarily because of the exclusive nature of the product. It will enhance the appeal of the Jaguar brand in India," Jaguar Land Rover India Vice President Rohit Suri told PTI.
Stating that the sports car market in India is very small, he said JLR is not looking for volumes.
"The primary objective of launching the F TYPE is not for volumes but to showcase technology and take it as a halo product with other products benefiting from it" Suri said.
When asked if JLR is looking to assemble more models in India over and above the Land Rover Freelander 2 and the Jaguar XF sedan, he said: "Yes, we are continuously evaluating opportunities based on how good the volumes are."
Suri, however, did not share which specific models from the JLR stable could be assembled at Tata Motors' Pune facility saying "it will all depend on the business case".
He also ruled out plans for full scale manufacturing of JLR products in India.
On the sales front, he said JLR in the April-June quarter this fiscal grew by 68% driven mainly by the XF sedan, without sharing the absolute numbers.
"Currently we have a huge demand for the XF sedan with a waiting period of about 2-3 months. We are gradually ramping up capacity ot meet the demand," Suri added.
On the possible impact of the imminent strike at JLR's UK plants, a company spokesperson said: "We are preparing for potential disruption (of production). We have a plans in place should that situation arise."
There has been no production loss as yet, he added while declining to share the total production capacity of JLR's different plants in UK.
According to 'The Sunday Times', delivery workers from DHL at Jaguar Land Rover's UK plant have voted for strike, demanding a large pay rise and similar terms and conditions on par with the JLR staff.
The staff of logistics giant DHL, which has about 1,800 workers at JLR's three main factories -- 1,000 between Castle Bromwich and Solihull in the Midlands and 800 at Halewood, Merseyside--perform a key role in managing warehouse operations and bringing parts to production lines. Those at Halewood are due to vote today.
"We are not directly involved with the strike and we are closely monitoring the situation," the JLR spokesperson added.
