Two bidders left for Jag and Land Rover, and unions support India's Tata
Folks might have snickered and sneered before -- and still might be -- but India's Tata appears to be in the catbird seat for the chance to gobble up Jaguar and Land Rover. After the other Indian bidder, Mahindra & Mahindra, dropped out because of a questions over the Ford parts supply, the two bidders left are Tata and One Equity Partners. Tata is being advised by Fiat in the bid, and One Equity is the private investment firm whose bid is led by former Ford exec Jac Nasser.
The British trade union Unite, which represents workers from both brands, met with the bidders and -- while it still opposes the sale entirely -- declared that "based on serving the best interests of the union members at Jaguar-Land Rover, the stewards agreed that Tata best fits these criteria." Tata has apparently agreed to keeping top management in place, as well as keeping jobs in England.
The position, while at one time surprising, makes sense. Tata is looking for European expertise and development, and the kind of knowledge that Nasser surely believes he already has. The unions, though, also said that Tata had a better cash and resource position in their opinion than did One Equity. That could be very important, if true, because Ford will have no part of the companies after they are sold, so whoever buys will need to be able to pay for or develop new parts. The question now is: if it comes down to a choice, does Ford do what's best for Jag and Rover, or what's best for Ford?
[Source: Auto Industry UK]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Doug 4:36PM (11/25/2007)
Management is legally bound to do what they feel is best for Ford's shareholders not the brands.
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jmaes 5:06PM (11/25/2007)
i would not be suprised if land rover and jag would be sold couple of times
http://www.tengears.com
John P. 6:11PM (11/25/2007)
They are goners whatever happens or whoever buys them I believe. It's gonna take an even bigger miracle than the Ford turnaround to save these things.
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J M C 3 6:20PM (11/25/2007)
Goodbye Jaguar.
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GENERALMOTORSMAN4LIFE 12:35AM (11/26/2007)
Say goodbye to these 2 auto manufactures. Just imagine trying to get warranty work done on these by calling a helpdesk half way around the world-It would have been nice for these manufactures to return to a British company in order to regain their prestige, exclusivity and limited production. Years ago you didn't see many Range Rovers on the streets here in America-now it seems everyone has one! The Freelander is a joke (Warmed over Ford Escape)!
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British_Rover 7:55AM (11/26/2007)
Neither the First Freelander nor the Freelander 2/LR2 are Ford Escapes.
No vehicle in the Land Rover line uses a Ford platform. The V6 powered LR3/Disco 3 and the turbo diesel in the Defender are based on Ford engines but all the other engines are designed and developed by Jag/LR.
The First Freelander started off back in the late 80s early 90s well before the escape existed and well before Ford bought Land Rover. It was a POS cobbled together from bits of several other vehicles and when BMW bought Rover in 1994 they didn't bother to inject any extra technology into it. It was launched in 1996 and while was very popular in europe it never did well in the US when it was launched in 2001.
geo.stewart 5:34AM (11/26/2007)
do you think that just because a company may get pulled out of the US, that it will go under?
We may see Jaguar and LR leave the US but I doubt they will go under.
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British_Rover 7:58AM (11/26/2007)
Why would Jag and LR leave the US?
Seriously you people are clueless. The US is Land Rover's biggest market now and has been for a couple of years. The UK is now Land Rover's second largest market. North America is also Jag's largest market. Both companies have higher percent growth in other less mature auto markets but that is true of most international brands.
Land Rover is in very good shape. Jag is the one that is hurting and if the XF is not a huge hit, I know people who have driven it they say it is AMAZING, then Jag will be done.
geo.stewart 8:05AM (11/26/2007)
agreed.
too early to speculate anything. I would like to see Nasser win the bid.
I think the concerns for the US re: Tata are somewhat justified. Not sure that Tata has the experience to maintain the quality (cant believe I'm saying that with Jaguar, just how far did Ford take them anyway) of a quality marquee.
Throwback 8:30AM (11/26/2007)
Ford should do what is in their best interest, i.e. take the best deal. They are in survival mode, the time for timidity is past.
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k.w.a 10:18AM (11/26/2007)
Tata? TATA?!! that's very surprising to me. Having lived in Africa for a while I think of this when I hear Tata:
http://busexplorer.com/WorldBus/Images/MidSize/WBX-tata-1313_tiger-UAE_a_030514.jpg
It'll be hard to see this in the same light as a Range Rover. But, if they say they can do it, then i guess we'll see
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ebm14 1:46PM (11/26/2007)
I'm very sad what Ford is doing and I wish BMW would have never sold it. I rather see Nazar take over the company since he is a smart guy.
Tata might be OK, but not for 2 British legends.
If Tata and Hillary Clinton win, I am going to shave my balls hair.
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RAFAEL 7:08PM (11/29/2007)
if that happens, i tell you, i will think twice about buying any of those two brands, and i think i am no the only one that thinks this way...
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