JLR seeks more engines from Ford as sales spurt

Jaguar Land Rover, the marquee British brand that Tata Motors bought from Ford Motor Co in 2008, is working with Ford to increase supplies of engines after a larger-than-expected jump in sales left it facing a shortage.

Tata Motors Ltd has bought ''considerably more'' engines than projected from Ford, vice chairman Ravi Kant said in Mumbai on Tuesday. Ford is doing everything it can to help deliver engines, added Ralf Speth, chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover.

Sales of Jaguar cars and Land Rover sport-utility vehicles surged 59 per cent in the last quarter, helped by a revival in demand for luxury vehicles that also caused Bayerische Motoren Wereke AG (BMW) and Daimler AG to raise their profit forecasts.

Tata Motors chief executive officer Carl-Peter Forster intends to open factories in China and India to woo an increasing number of wealthy people in Asia's two fastest growing major economies.

Mark Truby, a spokesman for Ford, declined to comment.

Jaguar Land Rover, which Tata bought from Ford for $2.5 billion, sold 57,153 vehicles in the last quarter compared with 35,947 a year earlier, Tata Motors said in a statement in Mumbai. Demand ''continues to be strong'' and the company is talking to suppliers about meeting its requirements, Jaguar Land Rover said in an e-mailed statement.