India Watch : Tata Motors to build Land Rovers in India next year

Automotive News Europe/Reuters, 10th August, 2010

MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s Tata Motors Limited plans to start assembling Land Rovers in India starting next year, its Chief Executive Officer said on Tuesday.

Tata Motors already sells the the premium SUV in India. Tata Motors, which acquired luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co. in 2008, is also in talks to start production of Land Rover and Jaguar models with a joint-venture partner in China, Tata CEO Carl-Peter Forster said.

Earlier on Tuesday, it beat forecasts, reporting a consolidated net profit of 19.89 billion rupees ($429.59 million) for the quarter ended June 30.

[Source: Automotive News Europe]

Clive Goldthorp

13 Comments

  1. I would guess at the Defender – it’s very labour intensive to build so it would make sense to build it in India where labour is cheap.

  2. Another production line we can kiss goodbye to. Bad news. What a country we live in, manufacturing totally buggered, public sector being screwed and the only sacrosanct sector is banking…

  3. Aren’t we rather leaping to conclusions here? The start of assembly in India does not necessarily mean the end of production in the UK.

    Notice also that it is ASSEMBLY in India (could be CKD), not PRODUCTION in India.

    Yours, slightly less paranoid than other correspondents…

  4. @Karl
    Don’t forget the “arts” – (the powers that be would) rather keep effing Covent Garden going than Longbridge – more MPs prefer a night at the opera than a day at the factory, b*st*rds!

  5. Indeed, it could well be like VW – they build cars in factories all over the world simply because it’s cheaper to build cars destined for, say, Asia there rather than ship them from Germany. Nissan build cars in the UK because it’s cheaper than shipping them to Europe from Japan.

  6. I have recently received a letter from the RBS to tell me that my account will soon be with Santander. RBS has been forced to sell its branch business to Santander because the Government had to bail-out the banks – all because the fat cats couldn’t get their snouts out of the trough (please forgive the mixed metaphors). Bankers bonuses? Being used to pay the ‘talent’ which got us into this mess. Next up – Rolls-Royce Trents to be built in China? My advice – buy a Henry vacuum cleaner while you still can. Down with Dyson.

  7. Back in the Nineties under BMW, Land Rover Defenders were built in South Africa for sale in that market and powered by BMW’s own 2.8-litre straight six engine. This did not result in the loss of any Defender production at Lode Lane.

    The lower wage costs in India would suggest that it may be more beneficial for that market to produce them locally, resulting in them being sold at a lower retail price. The specification of Indian-built Defenders may also be different than the examples built here, to suit the requirements of that particular market.

    To transfer the Defender’s assembly facilities to India would be very time consuming, expensive and also disruptive to the operation at Lode Lane and the ongoing supply of new Defenders to world markets.

  8. @Andrew M
    I do, a Cowley-built MG Maestro 2.0i and a 2006 registered MG ZR 115 Turbo-Diesel Trophy SE. I have no plans to buy anything built outside the UK and pay the wages of assembly workers in foreign countries. I’m fully supportive of maintaining Land Rover production here in the UK and will probably buy one of their vehicles at some point in the future.

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