Iconic British automotive
brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, have entered India. Group companies of Tata
Motors after it acquired them in June 2008 for US$ 2.5 billion, the entry of
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) into India is seen as a significant move towards
penetrating new, fast growing markets, especially when the US and European
markets are witnessing one of the worst slow downs in the recent times.
Speaking at the launch in Mumbai, Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, said,
“This launch heralds the entry of Jaguar Land Rover brands in India. They
had been disconnected with consumers here.” Describing that the Jaguar
Land Rover have terrific technology going in them, Tata stressed upon the
fact that his company were the one who introduced the Mercedes Benz brand in
India, represents Fiat in India and has now brought a group entity, JLR, to
India. “Jaguar Land Rover had been condemned in the down turn but they are
terrific brands with terrific products,” added Tata.
In India, JLR would be introducing the Jaguar XF, XFR and XKR and Land Rover Discovery 3, Range
Rover Sport and Range Rover respectively. While the Jaguars are priced in a
range of Rs 63 lakh to Rs 92 lakh, the Land Rover is priced in the range of
Rs 63 lakh and Rs 89 lakh. Prices are expected to reach up to Rs 100 lakh
depending upon the specifications and kit. To reach out to the target
audience, the company has opened a flagship showroom at Ceejay House at
Worli in Mumbai. “We plan to set up 6 to 7 showrooms in the near future,”
expressed Rohit Suri, Head, Premier Car Division of Tata Motors, speaking on
the sidelines of the launch.
Given the fact that both brands were known in
India and are even today well recognised, the entry of JLR in India,
according to industry experts, was expected. Refusing to admit if the entry
of the British icons comes at a right time, the experts added that
competition is growing to a new level as India becomes a market that cannot
be ignored. Comparable with the likes of Mercedes, BMW and other luxury
brands, industry analysts claim that Tata Motors is looking to not just
sustain the two brands but involve them in closer networking, thus seeking
growth on the whole. They further stressed upon the fact that the support of
the UK government is crucial as JLR wants it to guarantee a Pound 340
million European Investment Bank loan sanctioned a few months ago.
Responding to a question referring to the loan, Ratan Tata clarified that
his company was negotiating at the moment and if there was a large financial
package from the UK government to the company, then there should be a
commensurate level of representation on the board. He remarked that Tata
Motors and its UK subsidiary would work together and share intellectual
properties over time. While India is one of the significant sourcing
destinations for JLR amongst East Europe, China and others, Tata Motors in
the UK has its own research centre called Tata Motors European Technical
Centre Plc. For the two British brands, the recent times have been tough.
This has also reflected in Tata Motors’ performance. Tata Motors has
reported consolidated gross revenue of Rs 74151.21 crore in the financial
year 2008-09, posting a Loss after Tax of Rs 2505.25 crore. In 2007-08, the
company had reported a Profit after Tax of Rs 2167.70 crore. Sources at Tata
Motors have stressed upon the fact that the consolidated financial
performance of the company is not comparable to 2007-08 on account of the
acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover in June 2008. JLR posted a loss of £ 306
million in the 10 months to 30 March 2009. Sales went down by 32 per cent at
1.67 lakh vehicles. Land Rover sales were 1.2 lakh vehicles, 40 per cent
less that the vehicles sold in June-March financial year 2008. Jaguar sales,
at the other end, dipped 4 per cent at 47,000 vehicles, maintaining a strong
sales drive largely due to the strong response received by the new XF sedan.
In addition to closely co-operating with group entities to tide over tough
times, JLR, according to Tata sources, has responded to the changed
situation by taking a number of urgent and long term measures. These include
cutting costs drastically and working on a plan of substantial cost
reduction, aligning production with demand and tight control over cash
flows. In addition, the company has introduced successfully new variants on
both Jaguar and Land Rover brands, and is to unveil the all new XJ sedan
shortly. Present at the JLR India launch were Ravi Kant, Vice Chairman of
Tata Motors, David Smith, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, Mike O’ Driscoll, MD
of Jaguar, Phil Popham, MD of Land Rover, P M Telang, MD –India Operations
of Tata Motors, and Rajiv Dube, President (Passenger Cars) of Tata Motors.
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