Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has now started work on developing what would be the smallest sports utility vehicle (SUV) from the company till date. The proposed model is being developed in the UK.
Sources say the proposed SUV will focus on emerging markets like China and India, reports CNBC-TV18's Ronojoy Banerjee, quoting sources.
Sources indicate that the proposed SUV is going to have an engine capacity of around 2-litre and in comparison to the 2.2-litre diesel engine of the Evoque, one of the smaller SUVs from Range Rover, it will be the smallest vehicle to rollout from the company till date.
The strategy behind the development of the model is due to the critical role emerging markets have begun to play in the sales trajectory of JLR over the past few years with China becoming JLR's largest overseas market.
The new SUV model will allow the company to make inroads into the Middle-East where it has recently signed a Letter of Intent with the government of Saudi Arabia and enter Brazil along with the domestic market allowing Indians access to a brand like JLR.
Sources add that a select few Tata Motors engineers are working on the project in the United Kingdom. The other areas of collaboration between JLR and Tata Motors include the hybridisation of vehicles.
JLR has officially announced that it is setting up an engine plant at Wolverhampton but declined to mention the capacity of the engines that will be rolled out from the plant.
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