Luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)
announced steps Tuesday to set up a production plant in Saudi Arabia,
following the rapid expansion of sales to emerging markets, the
company said.
The British luxury brand, which is owned by India's Tata Motors,
signed a letter of intent with the Saudi Arabian government, paving
the way for a future partnership.
Unconfirmed reports said the deal could involve the production of
50,000 Land Rover vehicles per year at a plant expected to cost an
estimated 1.2 billion dollars.
"Saudi Arabia is an attractive potential development option,
complementing our existing advanced facilities in Britain and recent
manufacturing plans to expand in other countries, including India and
China," said JLR chief executive Ralf Speth during a visit to Saudi
Arabia.
"We are committed to further international partnerships to meet
record demand for our highly sought-after vehicles," he said. JLR
recently expanded assembly plant capacity in Pune, India, and agreed
a joint venture with China's Chery Automobile Company for a new plant
near Shanghai.
JLR said the expansion plans follow a sharp rise in Jaguar Land
Rover sales to emerging markets, contributing to a 32-per-cent
increase in global retail sales, to 324,184 vehicles, in the 11
months to November.
In the current calendar year, sales in the Middle East and North
Africa have increased by more than 9 per cent, to 11,418 vehicles.
