Defender assembly in India, price cut likely

Tata Motors Ltd is looking to assemble the Land Rover Defender in India, a top executive said, in a move expected to lower its price and heighten competition with rival luxury SUVs in India.

- Ayaan Kartik

The Defender is Land Rover's best-selling model in the country, where Tata Motors already offers a range of high-end vehicles from its UK subsidiary.

"Most of our models are locally assembled in India at the Pune plant," JLR's chief financial officer Richard Molyneux said on Tuesday, referring to its Range Rover series during a post-earnings call for the January to March period.

"For Defender, plans are in process to assemble the cars locally," he said. "We want to tap demand from ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the upcoming years and grow presence in the Indian market."

Analysts expect it could lead to a price reduction of over ₹20 lakh. Currently, the ex-showroom price of Defender variants ranges from ₹1.05 crore to

₹2.79 crore. That would help the sport utility vehicle (SUV) compete in the sub-₹1 crore range to take on German brand Audi's Q7.