The new manufacturing activities for Freelander 2 by Tata group JLR is slated for November this year from its Chikhli plant. The plant was utilized by Mercedes Benz. The plant is looking after the maintenance and machinery installation by Tata Motors for the proposed Freelander 2. JLR is on the verge of offering the low priced Freelander as the second in its serial. Hence Tata’s
Chikhli plant is identified for this task which has the capacity of 3500 units per shift. The plant had earlier offered its services to Mercedes on lease till 2009. The plant will take up the assembling of Land Rover ranges for Indian markets, said its
spokesperson.
The brands under JLR are imported now from Britain and the proposal to assemble its SUV in India is still on the cards. The assembled SUV might cost less on the eve of duty waiver. The current price of Freelander 2 is Rs33.55lakhs. JLR is very keen on quality before delivering the products to the market and this is to be applied for the ensuing SUV assembling. Further, JLR foresees to avoid any disruption by way of waiting period for the delivery, in case the demand increases due to the reduced pricing. There is a move to increase the number of dealers from the current 3 to 7for penetrating the market easily. JLR sells its range of vehicles including XF, XKR, XJ from Jaguar and Range Rover and Discover from Land Rover.