JLR plans to assemble Freelander in Brazil: Report

Jaguar Land Rover is in talks with Brazilian authorities about assembling the car (Freelander four-by-fours) from kits imported from the UK, Jaguar Land Rover chief executive Ralf Speth said in an interview with the Financial Times.

This would be the first step towards full local production of the cars in South America's largest economy.

"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, FT said.

JLR produces the bulk of its cars at three plants in England.

The Freelander is Land Rover's smallest and least complex vehicle.

Assembly of completely knocked down (CKD) kits would allow JLR to train people and build up operations and sales volumes.

"We will do it according to the logic we had in India," Speth said. The company began assembling car kits in India in 2011.

Starting CKD production could take a year and a half, and moving to fully fledged production could take another two years, the daily reported.

The CKD kits used in Brazil would be made at its plant in Solihull, Speth told FT, adding that JLR had no plans for now to assemble Jaguar cars in Brazil.

Most big mass-market carmakers have plants in Brazil, premium producers are only now eyeing the market to tap into growing luxury vehicle sales and avoid steep taxes on imported cars.

Germany's BMW has been in talks with Brazilian authorities about setting up what would be South America