Tata Motors plans Jaguar Land Rover plant in Saudi Arabia: report

Tata Motors is looking at the possibility of setting up a plant in Saudi Arabia for assembling its luxury cars Jaguar and Land Rover, chairman Ratan Tata said in an interview with a magazine.

The plan is to locate the plant near a new aluminium smelter, which would help production at the smelter   also competitive, Tata said in remarks published in Autocar India.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and Middle East's largest economy, is encouraging new and complex industries that use its abundant natural resources in order to  diversify its economy.

Saudi Arabia does not have an auto industry at present.

"This smelter could make the production of aluminum in Saudi Arabia very competitive. So taking a really long-term view, if we put an assembly plant there with a large press shop, given our commitment to aluminum in our products, we could have an interesting business case which we are examining today," the magazine quoted Ratan Tata as saying.

The aluminium smelter, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Maaden) and Alcoa Inc, is scheduled to start production in 2013.