The new factory is located in Pune, in the Maharashtra region of India, and the first car to roll off the plant is a Land Rover Freelander 2 SUV. Jaguar and Land Rover were sold by Ford to India’s Tata Motors for US$15 billion back in 2008. 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.

Mr Carl-Peter Forster, Chief Executive Officer and MD of Tata Motors, said: "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."

“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,” added 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 factory will initially assemble Land Rover Freelander 2 SUVs in Complete Knock-Down (CKD) form, sourced from the British firm’s Halewood manufacturing plant in Liverpool, UK. The Freelander 2 will be sold in India in either the TD4 SE Automatic trim or the SD4 HSE Automatic trim.

Source: Jaguar-Land Rover