Jaguar & Rover Brands will soon be retailed by Tata Motors

 The India based automobile industry giant TATA Motors has started fianlizing its plan which was in pipeline off late. The top executives of TATA Motors have hinted that the company has begun to finalize the plan of retailing of its recent acquisition from UK- the top brand Jaguar-Rover Portfolio.
Tatas will bring the Jaguar XF, which competes with the Mercedes E-class and BMW 5 series. The Jaguar XF, if brought in as a CBU (Completely Built Unit) will sport a price-tag of around 40 lakh (which includes 114% customs duty) and will have two engine options — 2.7 litre diesel and 3.6 litre petrol. Among the Land Rover models, the Freelander will be an obvious choice. The Freelander retails start from £20,935.
A large number of cars have been already imported for their initial use across the Taj Group of Hotels.
Incidentally, even as world-wide sales of luxury cars and SUVs are falling, the Jaguar XF is getting a positive response with sales up from 10,000 units in the October-December quarter to 15,000 units. This might be the probable and most obvious reason for the decision by Tata Motors.

Yet,when contacted, a TATA Motors official said, the company has not taken any decision for the India launch of JLR brands. The company will be unable to price them competitively as these models are imported and CBUs attract a high duty structure.
Initially, these models will be brought in as CBUs and plans are also on to bring the models as CKDs (Completely Knocked Down) in a few months. While CBUs attract a customs duty of 114%, CKDs attract a duty of around 15%.

One of the first showrooms is expected to be set up in South Mumbai.They are exploring similar options in other major cities across the world and is expected to start retailing the JLR brands in India by April this year, said an official familiar with the development. “We want to create a world-class experience with these dealerships”, he said.
Officials have also not ruled out the possibility of the existing Tata Motors dealerships stocking JLR models.

The company may shortlist one of its existing dealers in every city, but they would have to set up separate showrooms for the brands for the world-class experience.
This year, TATA Motors will also be launching the Nano, Xenon and the new Indigo, and Fiat brands like the Grande Punto Land Rover which are currently being distributed through an independent Mumbai-based dealer Navnit Motors.

The dealer is currently retailing Discovery and Range Rover Sport, and is looking to bring in the Freelander at a price tag of around Rs 35-40 lakh. “We will continue to retail the Land Rover models and we yet have to discuss with the Tatas,” Navnit Motors- MD Sharad Kachalia said. Currently, the UK auto company is awaiting the British government’s £2.3-billion bailout package.