Jaguar Land Rover will begin assembling the Range Rover Evoque at a new factory in southern India on February 9, accelerating a shift to relocate production and capture surging domestic demand for luxury cars, a Bloomberg report said.
The first vehicle will roll out from parent Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles’ $994-million Panapakkam plant in Tamil Nadu, people familiar with the plans told Bloomberg.
The site, expected to become a hub for its premium cars, will eventually absorb more JLR assembly that’s currently handled at Tata’s Pune plant, the people said. It is designed for an annual capacity of 250,000 vehicles.
The move seeks to centralise JLR’s Indian operations in a modern hub closer to major ports and suppliers, the people said. While initial output for the Evoque is expected to be under 10,000 units for the local market, Tata plans to eventually leverage the site for exports, they added.
The localised push comes as JLR navigates mounting headwinds in its traditional strongholds. In China, once a primary profit driver, sales are pressured by higher consumption taxes and fierce competition from domestic EV rivals. Simultaneously, the marquee is grappling with elevated US import tariffs and the financial fallout of a 2025 cyberattack that disrupted global production, the report said.
India remains a rare bright spot for high-end SUVs. Tata, which acquired JLR from Ford Motor in 2008, began local assembly in 2011 to bypass steep import duties. By expanding its domestic manufacturing footprint, JLR aims to price competitively against German competitors Mercedes-Benz Group AG, BMW AG and Volkswagen AG’s Audi.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles suffers loss
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles on Thursday reported a consolidated net loss of ₹3,483 crore for the third quarter ended December 2025 against a net profit of ₹5,485 crore a year ago, impacted by the cyber incident at its British arm Jaguar Land Rover.