Tata Motors started to locally assemble the Land Rover Freelander 2 in India last year and had revealed its plans to locally assemble more vehicles from the JLR stable in the near future. The company’s next model to be locally assembled is the baby Jag, the XF. The Jaguar XF is priced higher to its competitors as it is brought in as a CBU, while the German trio locally assemble the Audi A6, BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Local assembly gives company a cost advantage as they have to pay lesser duties.
The Jaguar XF diesel will be locally assembled at Tata Motors’ Chikhali facility near Pune. It will be brought in through the CKD route from 2013, with the kits being imported from UK. Once Tata Motors sees good success with JLR products in the Indian market, it plans to assemble more cars in the country. We can expect the Range Rover Evoque to be the next Land Rover model to be locally assembled in India. The company plans to sell close to 1000 units this fiscal year, with the Jaguar XF registering around 150 units.
The Jaguar XF diesel is powered by a 3.0-litre, V6 motor which produces 275 BHP of peak power at 4000 RPM and 600 Nm of peak torque at 2000 RPM. Known as the XF Diesel S, Jaguar also offers two petrol variants of the XF in the Indian market, which are powered by a 5000cc petrol engine. These variants are known as the XF V8 and XFR. A 2.2-litre diesel is available internationally and could soon make its way to India. This 4-cylinder diesel is high on efficiency and would help Jaguar take the battle to the Germans.
