Pune (Maharashtra), May 27 (IANS): The iconic Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Friday opened its first vehicle assembly plant in India here, an official said.

The new facility will assemble Land Rover Freelander 2 vehicles supplied in Complete Knock Down (CKD) form from Jaguar Land Rover's Halewood manufacturing plant in Liverpool, Britain.

The plant was inaugurated by CEO and Managing Director Tata Motors Carl-Peter Forster and CEO of JLR Ralf Speth.

"Today marks a significant step in our growth strategy for the Indian market. The opening of this plant demonstrates close co-operation between the parent company Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover and we are keen to develop this further," Forster said on the occasion.

Speth said that JLR has achieved significant growth in the Indian market since opening the first showroom in the country in 2009.

"It is a great time to be expanding our operation in India due to the increasing demand for luxury products and the strength of the Indian economy," Speth said.

The Pune plant will adhere to JLR's mainstream launch quality processes and will be overseen by experienced manufacturing and quality managers who have moved to India from Britain.

The award winning Land Rover Freelander 2 is available in India in two variants, the TD4 SE Automatic and the SD4 HSE Automatic, with prices starting from Rs.33.89 lakh, plus taxes, ex-Mumbai.

JLR's vehicles are famous around the world. While Jaguar is the world leader in producing fast cars, Land Rover produces the most versatile all-terrain vehicles.

The new range of premium luxury vehicles available in India includes the Jaguar XJ, XF, and XK, the Land Rover Freelander 2, Discovery 4, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover.