Land Rover reveals India factory plan

West Midlands-based luxury carmaker Land Rover chose one of the biggest events of the motoring calender to unveil plans for a new factory in India today.

The move is seen as opening up one of the fastest-growing car markets in the world as Jaguar Land Rover builds on sales figures that have defied the recession.

The plans unveiled today will see Freelander 2 cars manufactured at Halewood, on Merseyside, packaged up in parts and then shipped to the new factory in Pune, one of the biggest cities in India.

There the cars will be reassembled for sale in India. Essentially a "screwdriver plant", the Indian site is officially termed a Complete Knocked-Down (CKD) factory.

The plans are clearly well advanced and the plant at Pune is expected to be up and running by the end of the year. Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover's Indian parent company Tata, was announcing the deal at the Geneva International Motor Show later today.

But sources close to the Midland car company say assembling the cars in India will enable Land Rover to gain a foothold in the burgeoning Indian car market and avoid heavy import taxes on its vehicles.

Land Rover is relatively new to the Indian market and last year sold just 400 cars. But it has sold 195 already this year and Tata, one of India's biggest vehicle companies, is looking to expand its operations on the sub-continent. Land Rover has seven dealerships in the country and will expand that to nine later this year.

The 4x4 company was also at Geneva unveiling the full range of its new "baby Range Rover", the Evoque, as well as its new eco-friendly Range_e and the Range Rover Ultimate Autobiography, the most luxurious and expensive production Land Rover ever, expected to cost well over £100,000.

Sister company Jaguar meanwhile will be revealing details of the XKR-S, the fastest production Jaguar ever, capable of a top speed of 186mph.

Between them Jaguar and Land Rover employ more than 12,000 people in the West Midlands.