Jaguar-Land Rover Opens Assembly Plant in India

Gone are the times when you knew where cars were made just by looking at the brand, and when luxury carmakers made the manufacturing of their vehicles in their home country one of their top selling points. Nowadays, you have BMWs built in China, India, South Africa and the USA, Mercedes-Benz cars made in Russia, Thailand and Egypt and so on.
The latest premium automaker to go global is the Jaguar-Land Rover group, which inaugurated its first Indian factory on Friday. A Land Rover Freelander 2 SUV was the first vehicle to roll out of the assembly plant, which is located just outside Pune in the Maharashtra region of India. We’ll remind you that Ford Motor Co. sold Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata Motors in 2008 after losing some US$15 billion in two years.
Tata Motors believes that the assembly of Land Rover models in India will help the company better compete against rivals such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, all of which already build vehicles in the booming South Asian country.
“We are excited about the prospect of assembling cars in Pune for the Indian market where we have achieved significant growth since we opened our first showroom in 2009,” said Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover. “It is a great time to be expanding our operation in India due to the increasing demand for luxury products and the strength of the Indian economy."
The Pune facility will assemble Land Rover Freelander 2 vehicles supplied in Complete Knock Down (CKD) form sourced from the British firm’s Halewood manufacturing plant in Liverpool, UK. The SUV will be available in India in two variants, the TD4 SE Automatic and the SD4 HSE Automatic, with local prices starting from INR 3.39 million, or around 15 percent lower than the current imported models.
Recent media reports have suggested that Jaguar Land Rover is also looking into building a new engine plant in India, but the company has not yet confirmed the news.

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Land Rover to Premiere Range E Diesel-Electric Plug-in Hybrid

The new Land Rover Range_e diesel-electric plug-in prototype that was first teased back in May, 2010, will make its motor show debut at next month's Geneva Salon. The Range_e is said to be one of several working prototypes currently being developed at Land Rover's design and engineering centre in the UK. It is based on the Range Rover Sport model and features a 3.0-litre V6 turbocharged diesel engine with an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission mated to an, as-of-yet unspecified, electric motor and battery pack.
The British automaker said the all-wheel drive prototype can run purely on electricity for up to a distance of 20 miles or approximately 32 kilometers and emits as low as 89g/km of CO2. The Range_e also has a top speed of 120 mph or 193 km/h and a combined driving range of 690 miles or 1,110 kilometers.
The Range_e will be joined at Land Rover's Geneva Motor Show stand by two new Limited Editions, the Range Rover Autobiography Ultimate and the 2011 Discovery 4 'Landmark' with Black and White themes.
Land Rover added that it will also be announcing full European pricing (excluding UK) for the new Range Rover Evoque in both 3- and 5-door forms, and will also showing a comprehensive range of accessories and options for the vehicle.
Gerry McGovern, Land Rover design director said: "Customers like to make their own unique statement with a vehicle and we have provided individuals with lots of opportunity to personalise their new Range Rover Evoque, whilst maintaining the essence of the design."



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