It took a while, but finally TATA Motors, the Indian owner of Jaguar Land rover opened the first assembly plant for the British brand at Pune in the Maharashtra region of India.

The facility will kick off business by assembling Land Rover Freelander 2 which comes in Complete Knock Down (CKD) form from Liverpool, UK. To make sure about the quality of cars they make over there, JLR has sent its own experienced manufacturing and quality managers to India.

The Freelander 2 is available in India in two variants, the TD4 SE Automatic and the SD4 HSE Automatic. It will join the imported range of JLR’s models including Jaguar XJ, XF,and XK, the Land Rover Freelander 2, Discovery 4, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover.

Mr Carl-Peter Forster, said: “Today marks a significant step in our growth strategy for the Indian market. The opening of this plant demonstrates close co-operation between the parent company Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover and we are keen to develop this further.”

Dr Ralf Speth, said: “Jaguar Land Rover is delighted to have officially opened our first assembly facility in India. We are excited about the prospect of assembling cars in Pune for the Indian market where we have achieved significant growth since we opened our first showroom in 2009.  It is a great time to be expanding our operation in India due to the increasing demand for luxury products and the strength of the Indian economy.”