Production begins at Jaguar Land Rover’s Indian plant in Pune, as the first units of locally-built Jaguar XFs roll off the production line. The Indian XF features the 2.2 liter diesel engines, and is built using components supplied from the company’s Castle Bromwich plant in the UK.

That means the Indian-built Jaguar is just as good in terms of quality and fit and finish as the one built in Britain. The Jaguars will be built alongside Land Rover Freelander 2 vehicles which have been produced in Pune since May 2011.

Building cars locally in India will enable JLR to have an easier access to this vast market and also reduce the load on the busy Bromwich plant, plus it increases their global production volume. They also have plans to produce cars locally in China and Saudi Arabia.

Dr Ralf Speth, Chief Executive of Jaguar Land Rover, said: “India is a market that offers significant opportunities for both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. The expansion of our Pune operations to include the Jaguar XF will help us realise our ambitions for the Indian market.

“Jaguar Land Rover is committed to building a sustainable, profitable business; increasing our global manufacturing footprint is a key element of our growth strategy. Together with our joint venture manufacturing facility already under construction near Shanghai, expanding our operations at Pune will help us increase the global volume of cars we build, in addition to those produced in the UK.”