Jaguar Land Rover mulls manufacturing in India
Jaguar Land Rover, the British luxury car unit owned by Tata Motors,
is considering manufacturing vehicles from scratch in India, a report
says.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) currently assembles some cars in India with
parts shipped from Britain. Manufacturing the whole car in India would
make it cheaper, as it would save on government import taxes and labour
costs.
"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 on Sunday. However, he cautioned the process was at
a "very preliminary stage". Tata Motors officials were unavailable for
comment.
JLR assembles two of its vehicles at its west India plant using kits,
engines and gearboxes imported from Britain.
Sales of Jaguar and Land Rover models have been key growth drivers
for Tata Motors, part of the sprawling salt-to-steel Tata Group, in
recent quarters.
Indian car sales have slowed down in the last year due to high
borrowing costs, costly fuel and rises in prices due to increased raw
material costs.
Global auto makers such as Ford, General Motors and Nissan, have
invested millions of dollars in the past few years in India to use the
country as a global manufacturing base, where demand for cars is higher
than in the West. Tata Motors bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford
Motor Co in 2008 for $2.3 billion as part of plans to expand its reach
beyond Asia.
The deal vaulted Tata Motors from a commercial vehicle and small-car
maker into a global player with luxury brands in its range of offerings.
JLR reported record global sales of 357,773 vehicles in 2012, a 30
percent year-on-year rise, led by strong demand in China, Britain and
the United States. |