Business Line reported that Jaguar Land Rover is looking into whether to begin car production in Saudi Arabia, among other options in the country, as part of its strategy to forge international partnerships.
The luxury car maker, which is moving ahead with plans to manufacture cars near Shanghai in partnership with China’s Chery Automobile Co, said that it was in preliminary discussions with the Saudi Arabia Government and that a feasibility study was now under way to assess the country’s potential as a location for an automotive facility.
Mr Ralf Speth CEO of Jaguar Land in a statement said that “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an attractive potential development option.”
The company said that it had already identified opportunities for cooperation with the country on the production of aluminium components, a key material for some of its latest models including the Jaguar XJ and the latest Range Rover sports vehicle. It will announce further details of any plans in 2013.
The company is understood to be looking at a number of options including production and assembly of vehicles, to the manufacture of automobile parts. A spokesperson said that it would be premature to suggest what form the investment would take. The Saudi Commerce Ministry said that JLR had signed a USD 1.2 billion preliminary deal with the government for the manufacture of 50,000 Land Rovers a year from 2017.
Mr Ian Fletcher a senior auto analyst at IHS Global Insight said that “If they do anything it is likely to be a manufacturing centre for components. The biggest benefit Saudi Arabia could offer is the ability to make components at low cost and being able to ship the ready formed components to the rest of the world.”
