Fiat takes over financing for Jaguar/Land Rover in Europe
Remember the first time you moved out of your parents' house? Suddenly you were out on your own, without the security of a financial safety net. Same goes for car companies, so after Jaguar and Land Rover moved out of the Ford house and in with its new roomie Tata, suddenly the pair of British auto marques is searching for a new financial arrangement. And it's found one, thanks to the close relationship between Tata and Fiat.
Through a joint venture with French bank Credit Agricole, the Italian auto giant will be handling the financing of all new Jaguars and Land Rovers purchased across Europe. Fiat may have opted out of buying the two English automakers themselves, but the collaboration with Tata seems to be bringing them closer to Turin with each passing day.
[Source: Automotive News Europe – subs. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Uncle E. 8:16AM (7/31/2008)
Good, I want the Italians to own both companies.
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Giuseppe 8:16AM (7/31/2008)
Why cant TATA handle their own finances? I don't see why FIAT who just collaborate with TATA should step in.
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Dazza 11:00AM (7/31/2008)
Guiseppe: If the two companies are involved in joint ventures with other projects, why not with financing? All financing would be underwritten by a bank or other financial institution in any case. This makes sound business sense - the bank gets more business, and the two companies negotiate a preferential charge rate.
faciom 8:35AM (7/31/2008)
And interesting enough, fiat is alrady using land rover vehicle. Check this IVECO out (Iveco is the Fiat owned commercial vehicle brand):
http://www.massif.iveco.com/
The massif is a rebadged land rover defender.
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fs 1:11PM (7/31/2008)
The Massif project started way before Tata bought Land Rover. The Massif platform was bought (or something) to another company (not LR). However, yes, the root of that platform is the Defender of a few years back.
ronzo 8:42AM (7/31/2008)
Maybe Tata is beginning to think it is in over its head, and looking for someone to dump the brands off on already.
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darkhelmet 10:35AM (7/31/2008)
because tata wants fiat to do its european financing it makes complete sense that they would think they're in over their heads and want to dump the brand...
rdiddy 2:32PM (7/31/2008)
Fiat and Tata have developed a close relationship in India. Tata's new sub compact will run on a fiat engine and fiat's new sub compacts are being manufactued by Tata. Additionally, Fiat is using Tata's dealership network in India to not only market Fiat badged cars but also Maseratis and Ferraris.
Outside of India, they are collaborating in South America where Tata's pickup Xenon will be manufactued and badged Fiat.
So it's not surprising that Tata will utilize Fiats network in Europe where they are at a disadvantage.
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