Southfield, Michigan: Auto maker Tata Motors Ltd will build as many as 25,000 Jaguar XJ luxury cars annually starting next quarter in a bid to take customers from Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s 7 Series and Daimler AG’s Mercedes S class.

Raising production: The new-for-2010 Jaguar XJ sedan in New York. Production of the previous model was discontinued in March, Jaguar’s design director Ian Callum says the least expensive version of the new car will start at $72,000 and can cost as much as $115,000. Jin Lee / Bloomberg

The aluminium-body sedan will be built at the company’s Castle Bromwich, UK, factory, Ian Callum, Jaguar’s design director, said in an interview in Detroit.

The least expensive version will start at $72,000 (around Rs34 lakh) in the US, he said, and can cost as much as $115,000 with all available options.

Callum said the US will account for about half the car’s sales. Through October, Jaguar sold 1,082 XJs in the US, down from 2,038 during the same period in 2008, according to Autodata Corp.

The auto maker discontinued production of the previous model in March.

“Unlike the previous XJ, which reflected a more traditional English look, the new vehicle is thoroughly modern and stylish,” Callum said. “Jaguar is about creating cars for their time.”

Ford Motor Co. sold the Jaguar and Land Rover brands to Tata in June 2008 for $2.4 billion. That was less than half the price Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford paid for the UK auto makers.

feedback@livemint.com