SPY PICS: New product, new market for Jaguar, Land Rover

Tata owns Jaguar and Land Rover. The car maker known for developing the third-world-friendly Nano picked up the two prestigious British marques during Ford's fire sale clearance of anything not nailed down. Yet neither Jaguar nor Land Rover market cars in India.

That's about to change though, with David Smith, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, announcing that Tata will import the two product ranges from later this year.

"We are delighted to be formally entering the Indian market, an economy which is still growing appreciably, and able to offer our premium products to a whole new group of customers," said Smith.

"It is an important strategic move for Jaguar Land Rover and will enable us to realise our competitive potential in this significant market."

In a move reminiscent of Ford's Premier Automotive Group (of which Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo formed the constituent parts), Tata will sell Jaguar Land Rover products under the banner of its 'Premier Car Division'.

"This is a natural move for both businesses and will allow Jaguar and Land Rover to establish a strong and deserved presence in India," said Tata MD, Ravi Kant.

"We are very pleased to develop our relationship with Jaguar Land Rover in this way and to provide the opportunity for Indian customers to access their premium products for the first time."

Among the vehicles to be made available to India's well-heeled buyers are the Jaguar XF, XKR and the Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover.

The Indian market is likely to yield small but significant gains in global market sales for the two brands. An incremental improvement in sales and revenue will compensate in part for the development costs of forthcoming new products.

Jaguar, in the midst of pre-production testing for its new XJ, will be looking for additional revenue wherever it can find the moolah. The new car has already been revealed in a teaser photo from the Shanghai Motor Show (more here) and will be officially announced in July.

Our spy photographers at Carparazzi have dragged out MS-Paint to illustrate that the new car will be sold in two wheelbases. Word on the grapevine is that the new generation of XJ will continue to be based on the X350 aluminium platform and is being engineered using the code X351.

The blokes at Carparazzi have based their belief that the new XJ will feature a lowish roofline and mock-hardtop styling -- a la Mercedes CLS -- on remarks made by Jaguar designer Ian Callum in a favour of the Mercedes.

Callum is also reportedly of the view that since the XJ sells in lower volumes than the XF, the company can be a little more adventurous in the way it's developed and sold. That also explains the XJ as the basis for the hybrid model planned to go on sale next year (more here).

-- with Carparazzi

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