Jaguar and Land Rover, the renowned British brands owned by Tata Motors, are looking forward to set up an engine manufacturing unit in India. According to JLR Chief Executive Ralf Speth, the company will set up a facility in India to develop lower specification engines. The engines manufactured here could also be used in Tata cars.
“We are currently building an engine factory in England with an investment of 355 million pounds (Rs. 2,840 crores) for low emission but high performance engines. Our next step would be to set up another facility in India for entry level engines.” said Speth. He further added, “We would see at how we can synergise our operations with Tata Motors and possibly look at making engines that would be suitable for their cars as well.”
For all types of engine requirements, the company currently depends on its previous owner Ford Motors. As per Speth, developing an engine facility is part of its future plans; however, the company will maintain its relationship with Ford Motors. He disclosed that, at present, the alliance is making maximum investment in R&D. As the company wants to move ahead in the league of luxury cars across the globe, setting up a new facility is a reasonable decision.
Although in 2011, the company sold 2,74,280 units and registered 18% growth, the figures are less than those of many other companies. The main competitors of Jaguar Land Rover, BMW sold 1.7 million vehicles during the same period. Even Audi and Mercedes Benz sold 1.3 million and 1.4 million units in 2011, respectively. According to Speth, the sales were also hampered as the company has entered the markets of Brazil, China, and India quite late.
Speth, said, “We are setting up a plant in India, we are talking about one in China, another one in Brazil, but we are a small company.” He further added, “I don’t have the skills and resources in-house to orchestrate everything in one step, and we have to move ahead carefully. The big car makers can do it, as they have the pockets to do it, but we have to do it a little more carefully.”
