Jaguar Land Rover mulls full production in India JLR will exhibit a new 9-speed automatic Evoque and an electric-powered version of its Land Rover Defender at the Geneva Motor Show next week. Bought by Tata for $2.3bn (£1.5bn) from Ford in 2008, JLR has defied those sceptical of its future under Indian ownership to roar back into profit over the past three years as the main growth driver for its now-struggling parent. Continued growth in emerging markets such as India and China, which accounted for 22.3pc of its sales in the December quarter, is key for JLR as it embarks on an expensive overhaul of its production and product clout. The carmaker is investing $1.7bn with local partner Chery Automobile in a factory in China. JLR lags rivals BMW , Volkswagen, Audi and Daimler Mercedes-Benz in assembling cars in India, where the luxury market is expected to swell by around six times by 2020 to 300,000 cars a year, according to business consultancy Frost & Sullivan. JLR, with sleek saloons favoured by British prime ministers and luxury SUVs born of desert and jungle combat, has factories working around the clock in England to meet demand, bucking the trend of sluggish demand for European automakers. The company has repeatedly stressed that its overseas ambitions will not lead to job losses in Britain. JLR employed close to 24,000 people at the end of March last year. Earlier this year JLR started the assembly of the 2.2-litre diesel version of the Jaguar XF saloon at a plant in Pune, west India, tucked away in a corner of a sprawling production site where Tata builds its heavy duty trucks and hatchbacks. Screwed together using engines and components shipped from JLR's Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham, central England, the company has also been assembling its Land Rover Freelander 2 in Pune since May 2011. The XF and the Freelander 2 are JLR's best-selling models in India, where it sold 2,288 cars in the year to March 2012, up 157pc from the previous year. The carmaker, which warned in January of negative free cash flow next year as it invests in production facilities, is also exploring the feasibility of a factory in Saudi Arabia. After the signing of a deal with JLR in December, the Saudi commerce and industry ministry said the $1.2bn plant would start making vehicles by 2017. "At the moment, we've signed a letter of intent to do a study," Kenneth Gregor, JLR chief financial officer, said last month. That is and remains a study. Source:Reuters