AIRLINK 188.50 Decreased By ▼ -8.15 (-4.14%)
BOP 10.17 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.3%)
CNERGY 6.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.2%)
FCCL 34.03 Increased By ▲ 1.01 (3.06%)
FFL 16.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.3%)
FLYNG 24.16 Increased By ▲ 1.71 (7.62%)
HUBC 126.20 Decreased By ▼ -1.09 (-0.86%)
HUMNL 13.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.58%)
KEL 4.82 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (1.26%)
KOSM 6.50 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (2.04%)
MLCF 43.19 Increased By ▲ 0.97 (2.3%)
OGDC 213.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.01%)
PACE 7.30 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (4.14%)
PAEL 42.19 Increased By ▲ 1.32 (3.23%)
PIAHCLA 17.47 Increased By ▲ 0.65 (3.86%)
PIBTL 8.43 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (1.69%)
POWER 9.00 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.04%)
PPL 184.90 Increased By ▲ 1.33 (0.72%)
PRL 38.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.65%)
PTC 24.25 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (0.75%)
SEARL 94.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.36 (-0.38%)
SILK 1.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
SSGC 39.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.71 (-1.76%)
SYM 17.89 Decreased By ▼ -0.32 (-1.76%)
TELE 8.73 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TPLP 12.50 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (2.38%)
TRG 63.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.46 (-0.71%)
WAVESAPP 10.50 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.57%)
WTL 1.79 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
YOUW 3.98 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.5%)
BR100 11,721 Decreased By -1.9 (-0.02%)
BR30 35,442 Increased By 83 (0.23%)
KSE100 113,073 Increased By 434.6 (0.39%)
KSE30 35,576 Increased By 117.9 (0.33%)

Tata Motors Ltd, India's largest vehicles maker, on Sunday announced the launch in India of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, the marquee brands it bought from Ford Motors last year. Saying it was a momentous occasion for the company, chairman Ratan Tata said, "This is in keeping with our desire to extend the penetration of the brands in India."
The automobile firm, which controls about 60 percent of the world's fifth-biggest truck and bus market, will soon also be rolling out the Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car.
Jaguar is launching the XF amd XK range of luxury coupes and convertibles in India starting at a price tag of 6.3 million rupees ($130,977) and going up to 9 million rupees.
Land Rover will initially be launching three vehicles including the Range Rover Sport and Land Rover Discovery 3, with prices also starting at 6.3 million rupees but going beyond 9 million. "The luxury car market in India is very small, but there is a huge opportunity there. It is growing fast and we expect it to grow fast over the next 5 to 10 years," said David Smith, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover. "India is an important part of our plans for the future," said Mike Driscoll, managing director of Jaguar. The luxury car segment in India is less than 1 percent of the total car market there.
On Friday Tata Motors posted its first loss in eight years at $520 million for the year to March 2009, with its Jaguar Land Rover unit reporting a loss of 306 million pounds ($504 million) in the 10 months of the fiscal year to March 2009, as a brutal global recession crippled car sales.
On the issue of loan guarantees for JLR, Tata said, "we are in discussions with the U.K. government on the loan guarantees and hopefully we will find a solution for it ... and our funding plan for JLR will progress."
The company is seeking guarantees for the 340 million pounds loan sanctioned by the European Investment Bank and other loans from U.K.-based commercial banks. It is seeking these funds to develop new and more fuel efficient cars for improving its competitive position. "Sustaining the downturn is important for us ... and finding a solution (for the loan guarantees) is extremely important to us," Tata said.

Copyright Reuters, 2009

Comments

Comments are closed.