New Delhi, May 14 -- Tata Motors Ltd-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plans to locally assemble the Defender sport utility vehicle, its highest-selling model in India, as the British brand seeks to retain local operations for at least the existing models even after the India-UK free-trade agreement.

"Most of our models are locally assembled in India at the Pune plant," JLR's chief financial officer Richard Molyneux said on Tuesday, referring to its Range Rover series during a post-earnings call for the January to March period.

"For Defender, plans are in process to assemble the cars locally," he said. "We want to tap demand from ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the upcoming years and grow presence in the Indian market."

Analysts expect...