Chery goes upmarket in link with Jaguar
The partnership will also help the Tata brand to produce cheaper cars in China
Chery Automobile is expected to gain from its joint venture with luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover, but the challenge to create its own high-end brand remains.
China has become the biggest overseas market and the most important growth engine for Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover.
From January to October, the brand sold 53,186 cars in the country, up 81 per cent from the same period last year.
To partner with a Chinese car maker "is the only way for Jaguar Land Rover to catch up with rivals like Volkswagen's Audi or Daimler's Mercedes-Benz in China", said Yale Zhang Yu, the managing director of market and industry research firm Automotive Foresight (Shanghai).
"As China's luxury auto market will keep growing rapidly despite a slowdown in the overall industry, Chery Auto will definitely get a significant boost in profit by producing and selling Land Rovers," he added.
Anhui-based Chery and Jaguar Land Rover on Sunday said they would invest 10.9 billion yuan (HK$13.5 billion) to set up a 50-50 venture to build a factory in Chiangsu, Jiangsu province.