Rs 35 lakh Tata Land Rover on India roads in Oct

Prospects for Tata Motors-owned Land Rover in India will get a boost when it launches its cheapest sports utility vehicle, the Freelander, in October for under Rs 35 lakh (Rs 3.5 million).

The Freelander, a compact yet premium 4X4 SUV, is sold in large European markets such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain as well as in China. According to informed sources, the SUV is in final stages of homologation at the Automotive Research Association of India in Pune.

The SUV will attract an import duty of more than 100 per cent as it will land in India as a completely built unit. The Freelander is sold at about Rs 17 lakh (pound 21,295) in the UK. Its cost in India could thus go up to Rs 35 lakh.

Higher variants of the Freelander could cost up to Rs 53 lakh (Rs 5.3 million). It will still be cheaper than the other Land Rover SUVs. Tata Motors currently sells three models of the Land Rover brand in the domestic market which includes Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Discovery 3. The Discovery 3, the cheapest of these, carries a price tag of Rs 63 lakh (Rs 6.3 million).

This rate is not expected to come down as Tata Motors does not have any plan to manufacture Land Rover SUVs in India in the near future, though it may reconsider the decision once volumes pick up.

Jaguar-Land Rover officials said the idea behind bringing the Freelander to India was to gain volumes with its low price. No sale targets, however, were divulged by the official. "Considering that the demand for premium SUVs is growing aggressively in the country, we consider Land Rover to be the best fit for the market," he said.

The size of the Indian premium SUV market currently stands at 6,000 with BMW leading the pack. Land Rover will compete with SUVs such as the Mercedes Benz M Class, Audi Q5 and Q7, Volkswagen Touareg, BMW X3, X5 and X6, Toyota Land Cruiser and Prado, Volvo XC90 and Mitsubishi Montero.

In the international market, the Freelander is available with a four-cylinder, 16-valve, 2,179 cc turbo-diesel engine, which produces 160 bhp of power. It can deliver a mileage of 12 km/litre in a city and 17.5 km on the highway under actual driving conditions.

The SUV comes with manual as well as automatic transmission. The automatic version of course is priced higher. The Freelander, along with the other three Land Rovers, will initially be sold through two Mumbai dealers.