Jaguar Land Rover already assembles two models at its Indian facility in Pimpri, the Land Rover Freelander and the Jaguar XF. At the recently concluded Auto Expo, the company confirmed that it will begin assembling its flagship sedan, the XJ, at this facility soon.
Even with three models being assembled in India, JLR does not wish to stop, and according to Autocar India, the company is considering local assembly of the Range Rover Evoque as well. Land Rover launched the 2014 model year Evoque at the Auto Expo with a 9-speed transmission, and it is this model which could be assembled in India.
We reckon Land Rover will only assemble the five-door diesel variant of the Evoque in India. For one, the five-door variant sees more sales in the country than the two-door model, and the second reason being that the five-door is offered with a diesel engine, while the two-door is available only as a petrol.
Another point to be noted is that the engine of the Evoque diesel, a 2.2-liter four-cylinder motor, is the same as that of the locally made Freelander and XF models.
The Evoque, which is currently a CBU import attracts cumulative taxes of 170 percent, says Autocar. The crossover for the globe is currently built at a single location in Halewood, UK.
[Source - Autocar India]