Now, Tatas eye making cars priced over one-lakh pounds

20th July 2008

London (PTI): After unveiling the world's cheapest car with a price tag of Rs one lakh, Indian auto major Tata Motors is now gearing up to tap the other extreme of the market with new models of its newly acquired luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover priced in excess of one lakh pounds.

"Jaguar and Land Rover, now owned by India's Tata group, are drawing up a new business strategy that will take both brands upmarket into the 1,00,000-pound-plus pricing territory currently occupied by only a handful of luxury carmarkets such as Bentley," a report in the UK daily Financial Times said.

Earlier this year, Tata group unveiled its low-cost car Nano, which is expected to hit the Indian roads in next few months, with a base model price of Rs one lakh. Compared to Nano, the new models envisaged for Jaguar and Land Rover would be over 85-times more expensive at a price of over 1,00,000 pounds (over Rs 85 lakh).

Currently, the most expensive Jaguar model is priced at 80,000 pounds, while majority of its models are priced between 25,000-75,000 pounds. For Land Rover, the most expensive model is priced at 72,000 pounds, the report said.

Tata Motors acquired Jaguar and Land Rover for USD 2.3 billion in April from the American auto giant Ford Motor.

The Financial Times quoted David Smith, the CEO of Jaguar and Land Rover, as saying that the two brands could be taken "a lot further up the market."

"Both Jaguar and Land Rover, through the Range Rover brand, should be able to produce very credible products to appeal to people in those markets," he told the newspaper.

source:hindu