Jaguar and Land Rover sold

[British_Rover]

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/i...nd-land-rover/

We brought you analysis of the final bids yesterday, which hinted that a decision could be made in the next few days. As recently as a week ago it was expected that the bidder chosen to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover would be announced sometime during Q1 2008, but the news has indeed come out early, and Tata Motors is the winning bidder. Details of the sale are scant, but the previously named price of approximately US$2 billion is believed to be accurate.

Ford made no comment on the sale and is expected to withhold the announcement until the previously expected early Q1 2008 date. The news came via report in the Birmingham Post, a British newspaper, that Tata would be named the winning bidder this Friday, the 21st, reports Automotive News. The newspaper is based near the English midlands homes of the two legendary English marques.

So the saga of the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover comes to an end, and the once-great but recently challenged brands will continue on, but with new direction. Hopefully Tata will bring something of the glory each brand once had back to life. The buyout will certainly aid India’s entry into the mainstream of global automobile production. Only time will tell what will ultimately become of Jaguar and Land Rover, but we doubt we’re alone in wishing Tata the best.

For well over two months now I have been hearing rumors that the sale was essentially completed but the details were still being worked out.

It looks like they will make an official announcement right after first of the year or maybe even next week.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...2252070100.htm

Reports suggest very complex commercial discussions, selection process as reasons for the delay.

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Dec. 21 The race for Ford’s Jaguar and Land Rover is well into its final leg, but the formal announcement on who will be the new owner of the two iconic brands may take just a little longer.

The Tatas seem to be in the driver’s seat for the moment and British media quoting unnamed sources had expected an informal decision on the same by this week-end.

However, a formal announcement from Ford may take more time, as the US carmaker may not want to alienate other suitors who it may need in case the deal with the favoured bidder falls through, overseas media-reports on Friday said.

Complex commercial discussions and the selection process could be reason for the delay in a formal announcement, the reports suggested.
Gas guzzlers’

Also, there are reports that major global players in the auto market did not want to take over the two iconic brands as they were known to be ‘gas-guzzlers’ at a time when emission norms are getting tighter.

But for Tata, bagging Jaguar and Land Rover would mean that the technology could be applied to its own models to strengthen its position in the domestic car market, an analyst said.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

I really hate to see them lose Jaguar, but Jag's been leaking money for years and I can't say I'm all that surprised.

[Speedtouch]

Tata? Do they even still exist? And how come they have enough money to buy Jaguar and Land Rover?

But for Tata, bagging Jaguar and Land Rover would mean that the technology could be applied to its own models to strengthen its position in the domestic car market, an analyst said.

I'm sorry, but if they have enough cash lying around to buy Jaguar and Land Rover surely they could've just come up with some original ideas, and improve technology themselves?

[hajj]

Is in Indian Jaguar going to be problem? I heard worries that American consumers might not respond that well to an Indian luxury car.

Originally Posted by Speedtouch

Tata? Do they even still exist? And how come they have enough money to buy Jaguar and Land Rover?

Yep they do. You might remember that they bought Corus last year. Tata has been going strong since the beginning of the last century.

[Gman333-X-ferrari]

Originally Posted by Speedtouch

Tata? Do they even still exist? And how come they have enough money to buy Jaguar and Land Rover?

Well, seeing as how Tata manufactures/provides everything from table salt to energy to the city of Mumbai, with a revenue this year of USD 28.9 billion, I would say that they are "around".

I suggest everyone take a quick glance through this page before they begin to criticise Tata as a "cheap" company.

Oh yes, Tata has quite a lot of cash lying around. Well, enough cash to be taking over and targeting these companies:

Takeovers

• 1. Feb 2000 Tetley tea company, $407 million
• 2. March 2004 Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company, $102 million
• 3. Aug 2004 NatSteel's steel business, $292 million
• 4. Nov 2004 Tyco Global Network, $130 million
• 5. July 2005 Teleglobe International Holdings, $239 million
• 6. Dec 2005 Millennium Steel, Thailand, $167 million
• 7. Dec 2005 Brunner Mond Group, $120 million
• 8. June 2006 Eight O'Clock Coffee, $220 million
• 9. Nov 2006 Ritz Carlton Boston, $170 million
• 10. Jan 2007 Corus, $11.3 billion
• 11. March 2007 Bumi Resources, $1.1 billion
• 12. April 2007 Campton Place Hotel, San Francisco, $60 million

Targets

• 1. Jaguar Cars and Land Rover, $2 billion
• 2. Close Brothers, $2.9 billion
• 3. Orient Express Hotels, $2.5 billion

To be honest, I'm looking forward to see Jaguar and Land Rover under Tata control. It should be quite interesting. Tata will bring much needed financial backing to rejuvenate Jag and Land Rover. Hopefully they'll be producing many brand new and original cars in the future.

[British_Rover]

Originally Posted by Speedtouch

Tata? Do they even still exist? And how come they have enough money to buy Jaguar and Land Rover?



I'm sorry, but if they have enough cash lying around to buy Jaguar and Land Rover surely they could've just come up with some original ideas, and improve technology themselves?

Well considering TATA is much more profitable then Ford I think Jag and LR will be in better shape.

[Cobol74]

Outsourced and offshored - you heard it here first.

[Spectre]

Cobol: You Brits have no room to complain - Ford took the Jaguar board and let them run the place. While Ford caused a number of missteps, the Brits on the board screwed up a lot more.

Let's hope that the first thing they do is fire Ian Callum and hire Keith Helfet back as chief designer.

[jetsetter]

Kinda ironic.

[static]

What's wrong with Callum's design? Although the XF takes a while before it grows on you, the new XK is a beatiful car.

[Lambos r4ever]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

Kinda ironic.

[BlaRo]

Looks like Tata owns a lot of major British companies, and now with the last bastions of the Empire - take that, colonial oppression!

[GraemeH]

Not to sound all-sweeping and xenophobic, but in my experience (when my company was taken over by an Indian company) Indians don't know how to run a business based on prestige and perceived brand excellence (Jaguar). They just aren't pre-disposed to it.

But then neither are the British (anymore) or the Americans so I guess it doesn't matter anyway.

[watisdis]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

Kinda ironic.

Indeed.

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Looks like Tata owns a lot of major British companies, and now with the last bastions of the Empire - take that, colonial oppression!

Poetic justice perhaps?

[tigger]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Looks like Tata owns a lot of major British companies, and now with the last bastions of the Empire - take that, colonial oppression!

Ghandi would be proud . I wasn't sure what to make of this sale at first, as I was only familiar with Tata's cars ... and that kind of made me worry. But from the look of things, with their greatly diversified holdings, it seems like they should be able to support the British marques better than Ford. It will be interesting to see what happens for them in the next few years.

[KaJuN]

As much as I hate to see them becoming brands to be sold off like this I think it will work out for the better. Maybe with the added financial backing they can work to improve those quality and reliability figures. Only time will tell I guess.

[janstett]

Originally Posted by Speedtouch

Tata? Do they even still exist? And how come they have enough money to buy Jaguar and Land Rover?

1.5 billion people who need cars. And a very large labor pool that works for cheap combined with Western outsourcing demands.

Seriously, though, they are a gigantic conglomerate. Rather like Mitsubishi -- which is into cars, televisions, electronics, airplanes, shipping. I deal with a subsidiary of theirs (Tata Elexsi) at work, they do DSP algorithms.

And regarding foreign ownership, how long have the Malaysians owned Lotus now?

[Cobol74]

Originally Posted by Spectre

Cobol: You Brits have no room to complain - Ford took the Jaguar board and let them run the place. While Ford caused a number of missteps, the Brits on the board screwed up a lot more.

Let's hope that the first thing they do is fire Ian Callum and hire Keith Helfet back as chief designer.

Perhaps you misunderstand - I think that the end of all manufacturing is at hand in the UK. It is simply not possible to make money at all out of it, 1. we are just too damn expensive 2. our government (and any potential alternatives) is just too crap to do anything about it.

[Paul_The_Aussie]

It will be very interesting, even with all the money in the world, I am not convinced they have the know how to build a quality luxury car to compete with Merc and BMW. Unless of course they do it like Ford, provide the $$ and leave the engineers do their job. Doubtful though.
Goodluck to Jag and Landrover.

[SuperStalin]

I hope the Indians will realize the strength of the Jaguar badge is
in making tasteful and luxurious cars that don't try to look like anything else.