Tata Motors is on the verge of expanding the production capacities of its subsidiary brands including Jaguar Land Rover. The company recently announced that they will start assembly operations of JLR vehicles (Jaguar Land Rover) at their Panapakkam facility near Chennai on February 9, 2026.
Although the company has not yet confirmed which models will be assembled here, earlier reports and speculations suggest that the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque could be the first vehicle to be assembled at this new facility. let’s take a closer look.
Tata Motors Chennai Plant
Currently, JLR vehicles (mostly Land Rovers) are being assembled at Tata’s Pune facility in the state of Maharashtra. These are brought into the country as CKD kits and assembled locally at the Pune plant. These include the (full-size) Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Velar and Discovery Sport.
The move to commence assembly operations of JLR vehicles at their new Chennai plant is primarily due to capacity constraints at their existing facilities, where expansion is not possible at present. Tata Motors will initially start assembly operations only at the Chennai plant and the strategies may change in future.
Tata Motors announced the start of JLR vehicle assembly at the Chennai plant during the company’s latest earnings call. The Chennai plant at Panapakkam was announced for 2024 and will begin assembly operations in 2026. The company has invested up to Rs 9,000 crore in the development of this facility.
full production?
The total annual capacity of this facility is said to be up to 2.5 lakh units per year at full capacity. When fully developed, the facility could provide employment to 5,000 workers. For the Indian market, 2.5 lakh luxury cars would be a stretch, but this capacity provides the brand with scope to increase production for potential global exports.
Currently, BMW is leading the global luxury car sales as it has overtaken Mercedes-Benz and Audi in sales in CY 2025. JLR’s volume is much less than that. Currently, Jaguar has ended its production of ICE vehicles globally, leaving Land Rover to do all the heavy lifting and generate volume.
For Land Rover, the Defender sub brand has done wonders in terms of sales and further enhanced the name of Land Rover among the off-road community. Currently, the Defender lineup is imported into the country and may be one of the vehicles to be assembled locally at the Chennai plant.