In the Ford era, lack of resources strangled Land Rover’s product expansion plans.
However after the acquisition from Tata Motors, Land Rover has suddenly received copious amount of moolah to invest in new products and boy do they have something exciting for us in the future!
Jaguar-Land Rover aims to be at the top of the luxury market and way ahead of their German rivals. In order to achieve this goal, they need more volume products in their portfolio. As Jaguar is working hard on developing a BMW 3 Series rival, sister company Land Rover has set its eyes on the BMW X1.
Autocar reports that an entry level Land Rover is under consideration that will sit below the Freelander. The new baby Landy will be developed with emerging markets such as India and China in mind. In order to make it a successful one, Land Rover is asking for co-operation from Tata Motors and Chinese partner Chery. The same platform could then be used by Tata Motors and Chery to develop their own future cars.
There are also rumors circulating that the components for the new model will be substantially sourced from India. Land Rover is also actively considering the possibility of building cars from scratch in India. If the possibility is turned into reality, we could see JLR exporting the model to global markets from its Chakan plant or a new plant via a reverse CKD operation.
The competitors list for the baby landy will comprise of the BMW X1, Audi Q3, Mini Countryman and the soon-to-be-launched Mercedes GLA.
[Source: Autocar.co.uk]
