The luxury car market in India has been steadily evolving over the last one decade or so. The segment has been primarily dominated by the three marquee German brands. In fact, the top three positions have been consistently bagged by one of these three players for a long time.

And while two or three other players have been there for some time vying for the fourth spot, the entry of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in the June of 2009 signalled the arrival of the fourth strong player in the top segment.

It's been seven years since then and JLR has firmly established itself in the fourth spot. The Machinist recently caught up with Rohit Suri, President, Jaguar Land Rover India, to understand how the company's fortunes have been shaping up since then.

The journey
It is only befitting that the iconic brands corporate office is located at an iconic address in Mumbai - Ceejay House at Worli. It's probably the most expensive commercial real estate space in Mumbai but for Rohit Suri, the emphasis is more on its ‘iconic' value. At 8.30 am, it's a bit early by Mumbai standards but for Suri it is quite usual. Growing business has been keeping him busy and he prefers to start early to get more out of his each day.

We start with a refreshing cup of tea and an equally refreshing smile from Suri; after all, the Jan-March quarter has seen a 45 percent growth for JLR. "Overall, it's been a really exciting journey for JLR in India since we launched in 2009," he says.

Suri points out that JLR was not present in India at all before the Tatas took over in 2008. "But since the time we have launched, we have received overwhelming response to our products. It's been fantastic. We have grown almost multiple times almost every year."

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