Following a recent decision to build vehicles in China with partner Chery Automobile, Tata Motors has decided to postpone plans to establish an assembly plant for its Jaguar Land Rover unit in Brazil.  The company cited tax issues in Brazil for its decision, but establishing two assembly operations at opposite sides of the globe at the same time could have been financially straining as well.

New and higher import tariffs along with strict requirements for producing local content have cooled automakers' ambitions to expand in Brazil.  Ralf Speth, JLR chief executive, recently told The Wall Street Journal, "There is no clarity in terms of policy in Brazil right now."

We report earlier this year on steps Brazil had taken over the last year to slow auto imports, including requirements for foreign automakers to use local content in the cars they build in the Latin American country.  In March, the Brazilian government proposed regulations that would establish import quotas on vehicles produced in Mexico and shipped to Brazil, a move that started a trade brouhaha between the two nations. 

Earlier this month. BMW CEO Nobert Reithofer stated that his company was reexamining its plans to establish an assembly plant in Brazil because of the changing tariff situation.