India-made Range Rover Evoque to be launched early next year

Unveiled at the 2014 Auto Expo by Land Rover India, the 2014 Range Rover Evoque with nine-speed is the next JLR (Jaguar and Land Rover) model to be assembled in India. Currently, the stylish Range Rover Evoque is being imported as Completely Built Unit (CBU) and attracts over 170 per cent taxes and duties, making it a pricey option in this segment. For now the compact Land Rover costs from Rs 55.37 lakh for the base Range Rover Evoque Pure SD4 all the way to a whooping Rs 95.53 lakh for the top-end petrol powered Dynamic Si4 Coupe version.

Tata Motors-owned luxury car maker realises the importance to locally assemble car models so that they can be priced aggressively, but the biggest challenge is to create demand which can justify the inventory cost of local production. The advantage Jaguar and Land Rover car models have over competition is that they can demand a slight premium over the three prominent German luxury car manufacturers due to the exclusivity the British brand has to offer. 

Internationally, Jaguar Land Rover has been reporting strong sales figures and has registered its best ever half-year sales in 2014 selling over 2.4 lakh vehicles between January and June, 2014 globally. This is an increase of about 14 per cent compared to the same period last year, making the half yearly sales figure being more than the total number of cars sold by JLR back in 2010.

As of now, JLR India produces the Jaguar XF, Jaguar XJ and the Land Rover Freelander 2 at its Pimpri assembly plant which are its top-selling car models. The Range Rover Evoque will be the fourth model to be assembled in India by the company. According to sources close to the company, JLR is set to produce the SUV locally and will be rolling out made-in-India Range Rover Evoque early next year, which will be priced under Rs 50 lakh.

Later next year, the company is also considering of introducing a striped down version of the Range Rover Evoque, similar to the recently launched Jaguar XF 2.2 Diesel Executive Edition at Rs 45.12 lakh which is almost Rs 4.5 lakh cheaper than the standard version of the luxury sedan. Going by this, we can expect the Range Rover Evoque Executive Edition to be close to a tempting price of Rs 40 lakh.

Besides these, there are a couple of new models which are scheduled to be assembled at Jaguar Land Rover’s assembly plant in Pimpri, India. These include the smallest and the most affordable Jaguar sedan – the Jaguar XE which will be pitted against the likes of Audi A4, BMW 3-Series Mercedes-Benz C-Class. With an expected price of about Rs 30 lakh, the Jaguar XE is scheduled to be locally produced in the first quarter of 2016. But before that, JLR is considering to assemble the Land Rover Discovery Sport in India, which will be launched in the country next year and would replace the existing Land Rover Freelander 2.

When we contacted JLR, company Head of International PR Liaison - Del Sehmar said,  "With regard to further local manufacturing, we continue to examine the business case for this. At present, we cannot confirm the production of the Range Rover Evoque or other future products."