Defender SUV’s prices to drop as Jaguar Land Rover plans local assembly | Company Business News

Tata Motors Ltd-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plans to locally assemble the Defender sport utility vehicle, its highest-selling model in India, as the British brand seeks to retain local operations for at least the existing models even after the India-UK free-trade agreement.

“Most of our models are locally assembled in India at the Pune plant,” JLR’s chief financial officer Richard Molyneux said on Tuesday, referring to its Range Rover series during a post-earnings call for the January to March period. 

“For Defender, plans are in process to assemble the cars locally,” he said. “We want to tap demand from ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the upcoming years and grow presence in the Indian market.”

Analysts expect it could lead to a price reduction of over ₹20 lakh. Currently, the ex-showroom price of Defender variants ranges from ₹1.05 crore to ₹2.79 crore. That would help the sport utility vehicle (SUV) compete in the sub- ₹1 crore range to take on German brand Audi’s Q7. 

Molyneux’s announcement comes a week after the country announced a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the UK, under which tariffs on completely built units will go down to 10% from 110% under a quota. The FTA marks a trade success for the two countries at a time JLR awaits clarity on duties in the US, among its largest markets. JLR contributes roughly about 69% to the overall revenue of Tata Motors. 

“Most of the current models being sold in India have local assembly,” he said in the call. “However, for our future models, India becomes an attractive market due to the free-trade agreement.”

Currently, the Defender is manufactured at JLR’s £1bn facility in Nitra, Slovakia. It imports the completely built units into the country, which attracts effective tariffs of 110%. However, inbound shipments of completely knocked down (CKD) units attract 16.5% effective tariffs (prior to the FTA). 

Sales surge in India

JLR’s plan to assemble the SUV comes a year after it started locally assembling its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models at its Pune plant, which was inaugurated in 2011. That brought down the ex-showroom price by ₹44 lakh to ₹2.36 crore for one of its models. A Range Rover Sport’s ex-showroom price fell from ₹1.69 crore to ₹1.40 crore. 

Mint could not independently ascertain when the company plans to start the local assembly of the Defender. Queries emailed to Tata Motors Ltd and Jaguar Land Rover remained unanswered. 

The British brand, acquired by Tata Motors in 2008 for $2.8 billion, recorded the highest-ever retail sales in the country last financial year. Its volumes jumped 40% to reach 6,183 cars, with the January-March quarter recording a 110% growth to 1,793. 

The growth allowed the company to reach the third position in India’s car market, overtaking Audi India. 

The Defender’s sales surged 90% during the year, while locally assembled Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models registered 72% and 42% growth, respectively. 

 “If the move to locally assemble the Defender materalizes, it will be a huge positive for the company to increase growth in the large SUV segment,” said Amit Kaushik, managing director at Urban Science, an auto analytics firm. “[Tata Motors’] decision to locally assemble other models recently has started to pay off as it continues to gain momentum in the market. JLR’s bid in the large SUV market will further strengthen.” 

Headwinds elsewhere

The company’s move to increase presence in India contrasts with headwinds in other markets. 

“Tariffs and related geo-political actions are making the operating environment uncertain and challenging,” the company said in its post-results statement, hinting at reciprocal tariffs levied in the US. “The global premium luxury segment and Indian domestic markets are expected to weather this relatively better.”

JLR avoided giving growth guidance for the current financial year as it assesses the impact of US tariffs on its sales.

The North American market contributes roughly a fourth to the company’s overall sales.

Jaguar Land Rover’s FY25 revenue declined 0.1% to £28.9 billion. The British firm’s Ebitda margin also declined by 160 basis points to 14.3% during the year. 

Its sales in the European market fell 11% to 82,000 cars, while China saw a 10% decline to 47,000 cars. Overall, sales marginally declined to 400,000 units.