Tata Motors Ltd.'s U.K.-based unit Jaguar Land Rover is considering building an assembly plant in Brazil as part of its plan to expand in emerging markets and sell its vehicles at competitive prices.
Ralf Speth, the luxury car maker's chief executive, also said the company is continuing to scout for a joint-venture partner in China to build an assembly plant and may spend as much as £100 million on the facility.
"Brazil and the rest of South America is a very interesting market. It is also an emerging market, growing very aggressively," Mr. Speth said. "We are thinking of a kind of a copy-paste facility of the Indian one in Brazil."
He said Jaguar Land Rover is looking for land in Brazil and may choose from any of the three industrial clusters in the country. The company is likely to initially assemble Land Rover vehicles in Brazil, he said.
Global car makers have in recent years aggressively shifted focus to emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and Russia to partly offset lagging demand in their traditional strongholds of the U.S. and Europe.
Brazil recently imposed heavy taxes on imported cars, prompting car makers to look to shift to assembly operations there.
Jaguar Land Rover, which Tata Motors acquired from Ford Motor Co. in 2008 for $2.3 billion, last year opened a plant in west India's Pune city where it assembles the Land Rover Freelander sport-utility vehicle. It also imports and markets Jaguar's XJ, XK and XF sedans in India and Land Rover models such as the Discovery, Range Rover, Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport.
Mr. Speth said the company is facing capacity constraints in the U.K., at least for two of its products -- Land Rover Evoque and Freelander -- and will look at options to raise it either in the U.K. or outside.
Global sales of Jaguar Land Rover vehicles grew 19% during April-November 2011 to 185,431 autos.
Jaguar and Land Rover have, between them, three plants in the U.K. - two at Castle Bromwich and Solihull in the West Midlands, and the third at Halewood in northwest England.
The company also plans to spend £355 million to build a plant at i54 South Staffordshire, a business park near Wolverhampton in the U.K.'s Midlands. The company will jointly develop engines in the plant with its parent.
The groundbreaking for the plant will likely happen in the next few months, Mr. Speth said.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Ralf Speth, the luxury car maker's chief executive, also said the company is continuing to scout for a joint-venture partner in China to build an assembly plant and may spend as much as £100 million on the facility.
"Brazil and the rest of South America is a very interesting market. It is also an emerging market, growing very aggressively," Mr. Speth said. "We are thinking of a kind of a copy-paste facility of the Indian one in Brazil."
He said Jaguar Land Rover is looking for land in Brazil and may choose from any of the three industrial clusters in the country. The company is likely to initially assemble Land Rover vehicles in Brazil, he said.
Global car makers have in recent years aggressively shifted focus to emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and Russia to partly offset lagging demand in their traditional strongholds of the U.S. and Europe.
Brazil recently imposed heavy taxes on imported cars, prompting car makers to look to shift to assembly operations there.
Jaguar Land Rover, which Tata Motors acquired from Ford Motor Co. in 2008 for $2.3 billion, last year opened a plant in west India's Pune city where it assembles the Land Rover Freelander sport-utility vehicle. It also imports and markets Jaguar's XJ, XK and XF sedans in India and Land Rover models such as the Discovery, Range Rover, Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport.
Mr. Speth said the company is facing capacity constraints in the U.K., at least for two of its products -- Land Rover Evoque and Freelander -- and will look at options to raise it either in the U.K. or outside.
Global sales of Jaguar Land Rover vehicles grew 19% during April-November 2011 to 185,431 autos.
Jaguar and Land Rover have, between them, three plants in the U.K. - two at Castle Bromwich and Solihull in the West Midlands, and the third at Halewood in northwest England.
The company also plans to spend £355 million to build a plant at i54 South Staffordshire, a business park near Wolverhampton in the U.K.'s Midlands. The company will jointly develop engines in the plant with its parent.
The groundbreaking for the plant will likely happen in the next few months, Mr. Speth said.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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