John Reed – Financial Times, 7/15/2012
Jaguar Land Rover plans to assemble Freelander four-by-fours in Brazil as a first step towards full local production of cars in South America’s largest economy.
The UK carmaker, owned by Tata Motors , is in talks with Brazilian authorities about assembling the car from kits imported from the UK, said Ralf Speth, chief executive in an interview with the Financial Times.
Once assured that it can produce cars in sufficient volume, JLR will then look at setting up a plant in Brazil, which is on track to surpass Japan as the world’s third-largest car market by the middle of the decade.
“We thought about setting up a plant or assembly line, but you need a critical mass of volume,” Mr Speth said. “Therefore we are talking to government about how this kind of step can be made for a small company like us.”
Posted by Brazil Institute 
