JLR parent to scale back India plant

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JLR parent to scale back India plant

The parent company of the UK's Jaguar Land Rover said that annual production at the Sanand plant will initially give it a new capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year, which could be increased to 420,000.

In September last year, Ford said it would close its Indian car factories as part of a move that would cost it around $2 billion.

The US car maker said about 4,000 workers would be affected by the decision.

The company wanted to make the country one of its biggest markets, but the major scaling back in its Indian operations was in stark contrast to the company's previous ambition to make it one of its biggest markets.

Some companies like General Motors, Volkswagen-owned MAN Trucks, and even the iconic motorbike maker Harley Davidson have stopped manufacturing in India in the past few years.

While GM and Harley Davidson have said these decisions were part of their global shift from certain markets, analysts also point out lacklustre revenues and lack of economies of scale in India.

India is still seen as a car market with great potential but sales have plunged to a decade low due to a slowdown in economic growth, weak labour markets, higher fuel prices and a pandemic-related disruptions.

Demand has gone up in India, according to some Indian car makers. One of Tata's rivals Mahindra and Mahindra said on Friday that demand for its vehicles was outstripping production as people rushed to buy its popular sport-utility vehicles.

Mahindra and Mahindra's executive director, Rajesh Jejurikar said that we had kicked off capacity expansion programmes but had not anticipated this kind of demand.