Ratan Tata bids farewell to his shareholders while hailing M&M for their achievement in the recent months. Cyrus Mistry, will be his successor since the end of this year. He seems satisfied with the feats attained by JLR in improving its product sales in the UK and around the world. He quipped that JLR brand could see the coming of building compact cars as well as competing against the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz with an entry-luxury sedan.
Apparently, Tata Motors saved the British marque from bankruptcy, while Chinese market providing the essential sales figures to lift the Whitley based car maker ending up in despair. With reported £3 billion of profit over the past two years, the luxury carmaker agreed terms with the union to ensure future of its three running UK plants until at least 2022.
To the delight of Indian luxury car enthusiast, JLR is aiming at bringing in raft of new products into the market. First up is the new lighter Range Rover foraying by the end of this year. The all-aluminium, first of its class, monocoque body is 420 kg lighter, powered by V6 or V8 Turbo Petrol and Diesel engines. The fourth generation Range Rover has a sleeker front end and styling similar to Evoque.
After the leap in sales, JLR is investing £2 billion as part of expanding its range globally. Also hitting the Indian shores, the F-Type two seater sports car carrying over the tradition of beautifully sculpted and speed-derived F-Type Jag. Under the hood, 3-L 6 cylinder engine with 340 hp for the normal F-type and 380 hp for the S version and also a 5-L V8 with 495 hp available. The V8 would challenge 0-60 mph in 4.2s mated to a eight speed gearbox.
Both these defining models were unveiled at the Paris Auto Show and the latter is expected to be here within a year. Jaguar XJL Ultimate could be on its way to India as early as January of 2013 which is the sheer luxury version of the XJ model. This could get a massive 5L V8 and a more conservative 3.0-litre V6 turbocharged diesel as well. The Land Rover Freelander 2 receives another facelift along with addition of a new engine by 2013.
