After finalizing the deal with the Chinese Auto Manufacturer Chery Automobile, Tata Motors’ fully owned subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is considering to set up a plant in India and has started a feasibility study of the Indian car market. With a positive outcome of the feasibility study, JLR will setup the plant either in Pune, Maharashtra or at Sanand, Gujarat. Besides having a car manufacturing facility, the plant will also house an engine manufacturing facility.
The proposed plant will mainly be producing the Next Generation Defender. Currently JLR assembles Freelander SUV at their Chikhale, Pune plant that were earlier used by Mercedes Benz. But JLR’s new plant will be a separate facility. According to people close to the company say, the study is at a very initial stage. The results of the study is expected by the second half of 2012 and with a positive indication, the plant is likely to come up by the middle of 2015, with a capacity of 30,000 to 40,000 units of cars and 50,000 units of engines annually.
The Next Generation Defender is expected to be powered by the 2.0 Litre I4D (In-Line 4-Cylinder Turbocharged Diesel) Diesel Engine, code named as AJ200. This engine is likely to deliver 170-250 HP, and this is the engine that is expected to be manufactured at the proposed plant.
People close to the development told Economic Times: “JLR is very keen to set up a base. Different teams of the project L660 (the next generation Defender) have visited India several times. They are keen to use this as an export hub with almost 60-80 per cent (of the output) to be shipped to overseas market”. However, an official spokesperson denied to comment on this, as the statement goes: “We are now in a ‘closed’ period ahead of the Tata Motors earnings announcement on the May 29. I, therefore, cannot comment on your points”.
Mr. V.G. Ramkrishnan, Senior Director, Automotive Practice, Frost and Sullivan, said: “Demand is growing in the emerging markets and it makes sense for even premium carmakers to look at India as a base. They can definitely leverage from Tata Motors’ strength in the country, but the challenge will lie in getting the vendor base to the quality standards of the UK and international markets, for which it will have to invest money”.
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By,
Arghya Pan
Team MotorBash
News Source : Economic Times
