Luxury beyond metros: JLR India’s Rajan Amba on tapping Tier-2 and Tier-3 growth
According to Rajan Amba, JLR India is actively evaluating refurbishments and relocations to enhance visibility and accessibility.
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Luxury is no longer confined to India’s metropolitan elites. As aspirations rise and purchasing power strengthens across smaller cities, automakers are rethinking how and where they engage with consumers. Speaking to Storyboard18, Rajan Amba, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) India, shares how the brand is accelerating its expansion beyond metros, focusing on building deeper connections with Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets through an evolved retail, digital, and experiential strategy.
Storyboard18 asked Rajan Amba about the rising luxury car demand in smaller Indian cities and how JLR India is tailoring its strategy to reach beyond the metros. He explained that Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets are fast emerging as strong contributors to India’s luxury consumption landscape, driven by robust economic growth and rising disposable incomes.
“We are seeing growing demand for luxury cars from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, and our strategy is to take our brand closer to these customers,” Amba said, outlining how JLR India is expanding its retail network to offer these new audiences direct access to its products and services. The company’s long-term plan includes strengthening its presence through new showrooms and workshops, investing in digital sales platforms, and launching experiential marketing programs that speak to regional aspirations and preferences.
According to Amba, JLR India is actively evaluating refurbishments and relocations to enhance visibility and accessibility. “We’ve been a pioneer in the online sales platform, which continues to be a successful tool to cater to demand from untapped markets,” he added. This digital-first approach, coupled with physical expansion, has already begun to yield results — particularly in newly added locations.
“In fact, we’re already seeing success with our new dealership in Rajkot,” Amba shared. “Work is ongoing on multiple new setups expected to go live in the next 12 to 15 months — including Mangalore, Goa, and Nagpur.”
Currently, the JLR retailer network spans 22 cities across India, with 27 authorised outlets in key locations such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and emerging hubs like Rajkot, Surat, and Vijayawada. Amba believes that this expanding footprint is not just about sales, but about cultivating a community of discerning customers who view JLR as a brand that understands and adapts to their evolving lifestyles.
