Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) officially opened their first assembly plant at Pune for assembling the Land Rover Freelander 2 SUV and the vehicle will now be cheaper.
The SUV was so far being supplied as Complete Knock Down Kits (CKDs) from JLR’s Halewood manufacturing plant in Liverpool, UK. As expected, the company has reduced by the prices of Freelander 2, thanks to the CKD operations.
The Freelander 2 is available in India in two variants, the TD4 SE Automatic now priced at Rs. 33.89 lakh (ex-showroom price Mumbai) and the SD4 HSE Automatic, at an estimated price of Rs. 40 lakh.
Earlier the SUV’s variants were priced at Rs. 38.59 lakhs and 44.36 lakhs respectively.
JLR launched the face-lifted version of the Land Rover Freelander 2 in two variants (TD4 SE & SD4 HSE), in India last month. The face-lifted version had a refreshed front grille, minor cosmetic updates and new engines with improved torque. Also read: New Land Rover Freelander 2 launched in India
The TD4 SE (base) variant is powered by a 150 PS diesel engine while the SD4, HSE (top-end) variant gets a 190 PS diesel engine. Both the engines produce a maximum torque of 420 Nm (20 Nm more than previous model) and offer a 6-speed automatic transmission with Command Shift technology.
The Freelander 2 will compete with the likes of the BMW X3, Volvo XC90, Mitsubishi Montero and Audi Q5.
“Today marks a significant step in our growth strategy for the Indian market. The opening of this plant demonstrates close co-operation between the parent company TATA Motors and Jaguar Land Rover and we are keen to develop this further, ” Carl-Peter Forster, MD and CEO of Tata Motors said in a statement.
Dr Ralf Speth, Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Land Rover said, “Jaguar Land Rover is delighted to have officially opened our first assembly facility in India.”
He added that JLR is excited about the prospect of assembling cars in Pune for the Indian market where it has achieved significant growth since JLR opened its first showroom in 2009. Also read: Jaguar and Land Rover to set up engine plant in India
Further, he said that it is a great time to be expanding JLR’s operation in India due to the increasing demand for luxury products and the strength of the Indian economy.
JLR’s assembly plant in Pune will be supervised by experienced manufacturing and quality managers of JLR who had been previously working in UK. Eventually JLR will most likely source local parts and further plan to fully produce its vehicles in India in future according to autocarindia.
Yesterday, CarToq reported that JLR is mulling over an engine manufacturing factory in India. If once it is set up, the combined engine production capacity of JLR’s upcoming plants in India and UK is expected to be around 5 lakh units per annum.
JLR is planning to launch many new models and variants in the next 5 years. The new models will be built on newer chassis and will be powered by new engines. The models (especially, new Land Rover SUVs) will have different body derivatives as well.
Last week CarToq had reported that Tata Motors is planning to invest a major sum in developing a replacement for the iconic Land Rover Defender model. The next generation Defender will also be one of the new models in JLR’s future line up. Also read: Tata Motors developing next gen Land Rover Defender
The Indian luxury market is driven largely by the German trio, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. Jaguar Land Rover and other luxury brands are fast catching up with the three in terms by improving sales.