About a year after Tata Motors took control of two of Britain’s most revered luxury vehicle lines, Jaguar and Land Rover, it formally announced its intent to launch the two in India later this year.
Award-winning models such as sports utility vehicles Discovery and Range Rover and premium performance saloon cars, including the XF and XKR, will be available here. Tata Motors will be the exclusive importer. The newly formed Premier Car Division, to be headed by Rohit Suri, will develop the dealer network.
David Smith, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, said, “We are delighted to be formally entering the Indian market, an economy which is still growing appreciably, and able to offer our premium products to a whole new group of customers. It is an important strategic move for Jaguar Land Rover and will enable us to realise our competitive potential in this significant market.”
India will be the last market among the Bric economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) where the two premium brands will be retailed. Going by the price range these two brands will be sold at, the addressable market will be less than 1 per cent of the 1.5 million car market in India.
Ravi Kant, managing director of Tata Motors, said: “This is a natural move for both businesses and will allow Jaguar and Land Rover to establish a strong and deserved presence in India. We are very pleased to develop our relationship with Jaguar Land Rover in this way.”
JLR’s premium products will be competing with similar products from BMW and Daimler but will have the disadvantage of costing twice as much as a customer will have to pay in the UK. JLR models will be imported into India as fully built units and so will suffer 110 per cent Customs duty. Both Daimler, which make the Mercedes, and BMW have assembly plants in India.
JLR has been part of Tata Motors since March 2008, when it bought full control of the British firm from Ford Motor Company of the US for $2.3 billion, less than half the price paid by Ford years ago to acquire the two brands.
