According to numerous published reports today, Ford is expected to announce within days that India's Tata Motors will be the preferred bidder for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. Assuming this happens, look for Tata to pay Ford up to $2 billion USD for the pair of iconic British marques. As has already been reported here and elsewhere, the British labor unions have come out in support of the Tata bid, and the Indian company also has Fiat lined up to help show it the ropes when it comes to managing major European brands. Tata has also stated that the three British factories used to produce Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles will be retained. We'll keep tabs on the developments, since it now sounds like some sort of announcement is imminent.
[Source: The Sunday Times]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
J.Crew @ Dec 16th 2007 10:14PM
Ironic that an Indian company would take over a the British marques...
Paul P. @ Dec 16th 2007 11:03PM
Haha, that was my first thought.
Valentino Amoro @ Dec 17th 2007 2:22AM
Wow. It's amazing to think 60 years ago the sun never set on the British Empire. Colonialism at it's peak with 'feeder countries' like India, Kenya etc all loosing blood to the East India Company and the monarchy.
It's pretty remarkable how present generations in both India and the UK have moved forward and we're at a time where people in the British factories in the heart of the UK look as the Indian takeover as a source of hope!
Chaz @ Dec 16th 2007 10:15PM
I wish Tata the best of luck with this cat. I don't have expectations quite as high as Jag's for the XF, and I know how important that is to their operation, but could this be India's Rover-SAIC?
Mehul @ Dec 16th 2007 11:11PM
I think Tata has much better brand management skills than SAIC. Just take a look at Tetley (Another UK brand). You can barely find Tata's name on it.
Right now, what JLR needs is money poured in its R&D and Tata seems to have it.
Mr. Oak @ Dec 17th 2007 10:21AM
Chaz: I think that this deal bodes well for these two marques. India being an emerging market, and that country's new found wealth, then there is always national pride. Indians are fierce loyalists. Which means Jag and LR will sell boat loads of vehicles in India, and to Indians everywhere. Especially the entry level X-Type and the LR2/3(?) Freestyle.
Mehul: Ford has poured quite a bit of coin into Jaguar moreso than Rover, because they've owned Jag much longer. The problem was not R&D dollars, it was in the product that they brought to market.
Aside from the S-Type and the 90s XK, their line really was not worth looking at. They were stuck in the mid 1900s with the XJ, and the X-Type was a reskinned Ford. The XF, though nice for a Jaguar, has a cold, stoic almost Germanic feel to its interior. From the British I expect warmth. See: Bentley, Aston Martin and the rest of the Jag line-up.
DetroitWhat @ Dec 16th 2007 10:24PM
Well its a great way of saying F u to the British. They took our jewels and made them Her Majesty's Crown Jewels, so we are returning the favor!
VP @ Dec 16th 2007 11:02PM
Haha, i love the irony too. But i would have to say i would rather have our Jewels back over these two.
Anyway good for Tata. Must be some pretty happy shareholders monday morning at the Bombay stock exchange.
RWD fan @ Dec 16th 2007 10:34PM
Karma sux for the Brits, huh?
I'd love to see an Indian company start building a Land Rover Defender with a basic bullet proof diesel and sell it in the US.
pheer6224 @ Dec 17th 2007 12:58AM
wishful thinking. I'd kill for that too.
Mr. Oak @ Dec 17th 2007 10:30AM
You people and your diesels. You continue to ignore the difficulty associated with getting these diesels certified in all 50 states. Since the federal government is slow to act, more states are going to adopt California's tough as hell laws. Good luck with your quest for more diesels.
Diesels are fine as work vehicles. Most large cities don't want or need them.
Tater @ Dec 17th 2007 10:40AM
"Diesels are fine as work vehicles. Most large cities don't want or need them."
Are you stuck in a 1970's time warp or something? Visit Europe and rent a few modern diesels. Notice just how many are plying the major cities. Then post something you know about...like the future of VCR's :)
Mr. Oak @ Dec 17th 2007 3:21PM
@ Tater: Clean Diesels, yes they are cleaner than they used to be. The laws are also now tougher than they used to be.
http://ag.ca.gov/globalwarming/cleanairact.php
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-epa24oct24,0,2095994.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
Now that California has sued the EPA and won, other states are going to be adopting their standards. Vermont has already done so, and Massacheuttes may soon follow.
Europe has always embraced diesels, clean or dirty. The US has stricter federal standards than most of Europe, and California has stricter standards than the Federal government.
The autombile market in the US is at least 10 fold the market in Europe. Most major cities in Europe stink to high hell of diesel fumes. Multiply that by 10 for NYC, Chicago, LA.
No, I am not stuck in the 70s. What's good for Europe, is not necessarily good for the US.
icu812ru469 @ Dec 16th 2007 10:49PM
Just another investment deal... no one, not even GOD, will be able to do anything of value with Range Rover. The Jaguar, might be saved, but I'm just afraid that the big cat was spayed long ago.
I think Tata will eventual realize they got bamboozled by Ford and then it'll be KaKa for Tata.
Tater @ Dec 17th 2007 10:38AM
You realize of course that Land Rover has been exceptionally profitable the last few years and is currently enjoying it's best sales year in history?
No, I didn't think so.
Austin @ Dec 16th 2007 10:51PM
Good ridens, they have pulled Ford down long enough. Let Volvo be the new King of FOMOCO.It was always the crown jewel of the company to begin with.
pheer6224 @ Dec 17th 2007 12:58AM
agreed, but I still like them. I think not having a Jaguar Taurus will be great.
randomposter @ Dec 16th 2007 10:58PM
can't believe no one stepped up on this one. this is equivalent to flushing those 2 brands down the toilet in the long term.
Bill @ Dec 16th 2007 11:25PM
I don't see a problem with it... who cares who owns it as long as they both make great cars in the future...
As for people lumping Land Rover (It is Land Rover, not "Range Rover". The Range Rover is a vehicle produced by the company Land Rover) and Jag together as both being failures, you clearly don't know what you're talking about.
Land Rover has been one of the only profitable divisions for Ford over the last few years. The only reason they are selling it is because they had to pair something profitable with Jaguar so that people would buy it. I would imagine Jaguar alone wouldn't be worth nearly half of the total cost being paid here.
Paul @ Dec 16th 2007 11:47PM
Nice headline, guys. Your puns are always top-notch.