The India Hub will focus on deep tech including artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, internet of things, ADAS and sensors and devices, the company said in a statement. Photo: Special Arrangement

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced the opening of its latest Open Innovation Hub at Bengaluru in India to identify and work closely with startups to develop the next generation of products and services that will help to define its future client experiences.

The India Hub will focus on deep tech including artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, internet of things, ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and sensors and devices, the company said in a statement.

The Hub, which has forged partnership with the corporate innovation platform and investor Plug and Play, will bring together industry, government, academia, and other parties.

They will discuss and develop industry leading solutions for JLR, such as optimising batteries for electric powertrains, identifying optimal locations for charging infrastructure and delivering more advanced ADAS.

The new Hub is the fifth to open since JLR’s Open Innovation Programme launched in April 2022. The programme has engaged with over 2,500 start-ups globally, resulting in 33 formal collaborations so far, it added.

JLR’s innovation director Igor Murakami in a statement said, “India’s rapidly growing startup sector and JLR’s already established presence and close links to the Tata Group make the country the ideal location for the newest Innovation Hub.”

“Through global collaboration, JLR’s Open Innovation Programme is connecting us to the next generation of talent and technologies, and the addition of a hub in India will support JLR’s engineering teams to innovate quickly to support vehicle design, features and improve customer experiences,” he said.

Also read: JLR unveils new corporate identity

JLR Technology & Business Services India (TBSI) CEO Lalitha Indrakanti said, “Quality and innovation are core elements of our business. Through the Innovation Hub we are looking to tap into India’s deep technology ecosystem to discover new possibilities with a strong focus on engineering and sustainability.”

The Hub will act as a dedicated space to attract disruptors to bring meaningful and scalable solutions to market. We aim to be the leading Innovation Hub for mobility and sustainability and be the top collaborator of choice for startups,” she added,

Plug and Play partner Sobhan Khani said, “Plug and Play’s partnership with JLR will continue to enhance our global mobility ecosystem. This initiative empowers innovators to develop transformative technologies that redefine the future of mobility and align with JLR’s commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences.”

File picture of Ratan Tata, centre, with officials of Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover at a press conference to announce Jaguar Land Rover’s official entry in India on June 28, 2009.
| Photo Credit: Paul Noronha

The story of two iconic brands Jaguar and Land Rover entering the Tata stable began with an insult Ratan Tata couldn’t bear.

Back in 1998, the legendary industrialist launched his dream project, Tata Indica — India’s first hatchback with a diesel engine. But sales initially were slow and Tata Motors decided to sell off its fledgling car business within a year of its debut.

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U.S. auto giant Ford was seen as an ideal candidate. The company acceded to a meeting requirement from Ford Motors. Officials of the U.S. firm came to Bombay House for talks sometime in 1999.

During the meeting at the Tata headquarters, the American company evinced interest in buying out the business. To take the deal forward, Ratan Tata and his team flew to Detroit to meet Bill Ford, then the chairman of Ford. The meeting lasted about three hours but did not go well.

The American businessman was condescending and “humiliated” the Indian businessman, according to a person who attended the meeting.

“You do not know anything, why did you start the passenger car division at all,” the Ford officials told their guests, and spoke about doing a favour to the Indian company by buying out the latter’s business. The deal fell.

The team decided to return to India immediately after the meeting. On the 90-minute flight taking them back to New York, a sombre Ratan Tata spoke very few words.

The mortifying experience only made Ratan Tata more focused on his goals. He decided not to sell the unit and what followed was a classic example of a failure-turned success story.

2008 Great Recession

Nine years later, Ford was on the verge of bankruptcy following the Great Recession of 2008. Tata offered to buy two iconic brands in the Ford portfolio — Jaguar and Land Rover.

The $2.3 billion all-cash deal was completed in June 2008 and Ford chairman Bill Ford thanked Tata, saying, “You are doing us a big favour by buying JLR’,” Pravin Kadle, who was part of the team that travelled with Ratan Tata to the U.S. in 1999, had recounted during a public event in 2015.

Post-acquisition, the Tata Group has scripted one of the most fabulous turnarounds in the auto industry and has been able to position the marquee British brands as formidable entities in the fiercely competitive global car market.

Even as Tata Motors has come a long way and gained market share in India, it continues to earn a significant part of revenues from the JLR.

Today, JLR is the backbone of Tata Motors.

New Delhi:

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) aims to launch eight battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in India by 2030, according to a senior company executive.

The company currently sells one electric model — Jaguar I-Pace — in the country.

In an interaction with PTI, JLR Chief Commercial Officer Lennard Hoornik said the automaker will commence taking orders for the Range Rover BEV for the Indian market next year with deliveries expected to begin in 2025.

“We are planning to introduce at least 8 BEVs by the end of the decade in India,” he noted.

The British automaker, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors since 2008, aims to become a net-zero carbon business globally by 2039.

Terming the Indian market a “big strategic priority” for the automaker, Hoornik noted that the country is in the right direction when it comes to transitioning into electric mobility.

He said subsidy push in the initial phase, setting up the right amount of charging infrastructure and having a great product (EV) were some of the essentials which would encourage the adoption of electric cars in the country.

Hoornik noted that governments around the world were trying to give electric cars a bit of a kickstart by offering subsidies.

“I think to kickstart that sort of transformation (to electric cars) I think it (subsidy) is very important,” he noted when asked if subsidies could also help in the growth of EV sales in India.

Hoornik said affordability is one critical factor in encouraging the adoption of electric cars.

“..Batteries are not cheap…So if there is anything that we can do to accelerate..once you get over a certain percentage (sales of EVs) it seems to just go right..beginning I think is quite important,” he stated.

Elaborating on the company’s overall roadmap in the country, Hoornik said the company aims to expand the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Defender brands which were strong in the Indian market.

“We are now getting a number of new product releases within those families. There will be some special editions, but also we are slowly moving towards electrification,” he noted.

The automaker plans to have individual growth strategies for its four brands — Jaguar, Range Rover, Discovery and Defender, Hoornik said.

Each of those brands should have their own growth strategy, retail landscape and their own audience, he noted.

“In a country that is so big, with so much diversity, I think there’s a role for each of the brands to play,” Hoornik said.

He noted that in April-June period of this fiscal, the company’s sales in India grew over 100 per cent and the automaker expected to keep the momentum going in the rest of the fiscal.

“It is also important that we grow our order bank… it grew about 50-plus per cent within the same timeframe (first quarter)…it is very clear that it is looking bright (future) for us here,” Hoornik said.

He noted that JLR being a part of the Tata Group is a very positive factor due to the trust equation which the general population has with the diversified conglomerate.

Hoornik noted that JLR has a very positive outlook on the growth of the overall luxury car market in India.

High GDP growth rate, young population and rapid development of road infrastructure were some of the factors which bode well for the growth of the industry going ahead, he noted.

“The positivity in the energy of India will carry it through,” Hoornik said.

Earlier this year, Tata Group announced an investment of 4 billion pounds to set up a flagship factory to make batteries for Jaguar Land Rover as well as other manufacturers.

The group chose Bridgwater in Somerset in southwest England for the gigafactory over a rival location in Spain.

The gigafactory, at 40GWh, will be one of the largest in Europe and Tata’s first outside of India.

It will supply JLR’s future battery-electric models, including the Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar brands, with the potential to also supply other car manufacturers.

Production at the new gigafactory is due to start in 2026. PTI MSS SHW ANU ANU