Tata to Win Jaguar & Land Rover Battle

Well, I guess this is the end for Jaguar and Land Rover. I seriously doubt that the Indian companies will take care of the brands. I have a feeling that Jaguar especially won't fare well if it is bought by an Indian company. I certainly wouldn't buy one if that happened. They will undoubtably cut corners in all directions to maximise profits leading to a car thats really not a Jaguar anymore and probably not even safe.

I fear this is really the begining of the end for Jaguar, and what a shame, they are such a great car company, one of my favorites.

What absolute crap. Produce cars that aren't safe? Have you lost your mind? Who would allow that?

Keeping JLR within Ford would have been the best option, but of the three shortlisted Tata is the safest pair of hands. Their purchases of Corus and Tetley Tea in the UK haven't been so bad.

Tea and cars are totally different things, I just can't see them upholding the values of Jaguar. They will probably end up cutting corners everywhere to maximise profits. I really think Jaguar will go down the drain under their control. What a terrible shame. Would anyone here still buy a Jaguar knowing its Indian instead of British? And I agree with the report about how production will likely be shipped over to India. Wouldn't that be great having a made in India sticker on a "British" car.

It?s really bad to think like racially. Actually Jaguar and Land rover is British and was running by an American bankrupt company. So for that no one has any problem. Now, when Tata bought it, starts murmuring. Now we are in a globalization world and any one can make any products. Tata is the fifth highest steal industry in all over the world and same time worlds 1st steel industry also belongs to an Indian. And no one is telling, Steel which is making an Indian is bad. And Tata is financially sound, technically rich and have a lot of experience for making good cars. So no matter who owns it, the quality is the important and Indian companies also proved that they can make quality products before and Tata proved it several times before like ?NANO?.

So if someone buys a Jaguar or a Land Rover, they are buying from an Indian car company no one really has heard of before.

No matter what country you are in, you'll now always think Land Rover or Jag as an Indian car...and sales will drop. Ford's involvement was already a burden...I know as I worked for Land Rover. Ford is slowly stuffing so much that has been built up over so many years, thankfully Aston Martin is now out to build hot cars that aren't Volvo's. It's a real shame that a British icon is being bought but Indians, a UK company would have been a brilliant conclusion to keep the heritage alive. RIP Land Rover and Jag, the competition will eat you alive and buyers will slowly shift...it's not exactly a reliable brand anyways.

Really? Do you think of Rolls-Royce as German? Bentley as German? Lotus as Malaysian? Lamborghini as German?

I would have loved to have kept any of our former motor companies British, but there is no one who can afford to keep them.

Frankly, JLR in the wondership of deep pocketed Indians sounds a better option than near bankrupt Americans. And don't forget Tata has been producing cars for years and also has BIG steel interests, so it is not as if they aren't well positioned.

I totally agree, but its most unfortunate at that. I too wish a British company was given the rights to the company. It is an iconic British car and I think sales would improve seeing as people would know they are buying a propper British car. Now all they are buying is a propper Indian car. I'm so dissapointed about this, I really like Jaguar but I just couldn't knowing its an Indian car now. One of the things that make them special are the fact they are British (I know Ford is American, but thats still better than Indian in my opinion).

Hmm interesting comments by some of the readers here.

lets see - Jag and LR were not exactly "cash cows" for ford so the issue of their sales going down because they are now to be owned by an Indian company should not have much of an affect. Cerbus bought Aston Martin, and last I heard their sales are growing. As far as I know Cerbus (I think thats what its called) does not have any motoring history.

Atleast we can be certain that we wont be getting re-badged daewoos as would be the case if an american company bought the two brands...

If people refuse to buy the car because its now owned by an indian company, well thats fine, the asian market is strong and it might actually sell more cars - seeing that we dont have too many environmental legislations just yet and jaguars and LRs' are not particularly famous for their green credentials.

A jag that smell curry inside would be interesting. But I won't buy it

The story is like MG Rover was now owned by Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp (SAIC) and Nanjing Automobile Corp (NAC) from China.

It's from Hollywood to Bollywood.

Comment deleted by admin

well, i really think u guys need to grow up a lil bit!! a jag wouldnt smell curry in any means!! come on, i'm sure Tata would do a much better job than Ford has possibly done! and about the safety aspect of it, Tata is big time entering the European car market soon!!n all ur comments sound very racial!! sad to see this from u all!!n as a global economy now, India would surely get out the market n buy out a lot of the European companies!! n after having seen the take over n good working health of Corus n Tetley, i'm sure Tata would do a better job than the sinking jiant would!! n infact this take over would open up newer markets for Jaguar n Land Rover!! India also happens to be the 4th largest auto market, n biting into that share would only increase the sales of the now cash strapped British company!! So, its better that these two companies r going into Tata's hands than remaining in the hands of a loss making American giant!! n its a shame that u guys didnt keep such an open mind while going through this matter!!

miragev4, I think you have the wrong companies. Cerberus is a US company that bought Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge. Aston Martin was bought by a group led by David Richardson. I am also concerned about the Tata issue. I believe if for instance, Toyota decides to go premium, as they did with Lexus, certain Toyota traits will filter through into the Lexus brand, like reliability and quality. In the same vein I expect certain Tata traits to be found in the next Jags and LRs. Decide for yourself what these are...

i doubt that would happen thamzn, coz, watever be it, the Jag n LR would still be designed and made by the Brits, its only the administrative part that Tata would be running, so i dont think Tata's cons would enter Jag or LR, infact i think Jag's n LR's pros will be added to Tata!! in the case of Toyota n Lexus, they were designed n developed by Toyota, that i dont think would be the case in this deal!!! n this would also boost Tata Motor's entry into Europe!! n they have also tied up with Fiat and are bringing in brands like Ferrari n Alfa Romeo!! if they can open up a market for them, to increase their production, i think they could do that to Jag n LR, which if bought by Tata would be their own brand!! i mean, a new market would be opened for these 2 companies!! Jag n LR r not great brands in India!! this could bring in a large opportunity for the British marque's to make it big in India!!

n the company that owns Aston Martin is Prodrive!

India has the worst quality steel in the world, which i am sure they are going to impose LR and Jag use in order for them to make profit 2x, and the same thing that happened when ford baught them Tata parts will be incorporated into both jag and LR. If you think they will stay the same or improve you are sadly mistaken. I predict they will be sold again within 5 years. Neither sold well before being baught by ford, and didnt sell well after, and now they will sell even less.

I absolutely agree with you, its such a shame though that this is happening.

Wow, lot of readin. Selling these two companies to an Indian buyer is going to have a huge impact on Jag & LR. First, what many have failed to mentioned is that all though Ford did not keep them alive they provided them with valuable resources especially in terms of design and design facilities. Pure lack of knowledge in this industry is what will kill it because even though Ford wasn't a match at least they have 100 years of auto experience. This new company is piggy backing off of others so don't expect anything innovative from them, which is something that jag desperately needs to come back. Although, this could be wrong if the Indian company properly invest in these companies unlike Ford. However, they will outsource these companies to india to..you can count on that

k.. k.. India has a large scrapping industry!! possibly, thats y? the 80yr old steel!! but i must tell u that the time is changing!! Indian auto cos are getting more serious, n i'm sure that the next generation of cars entering India from Tata,which will also be sold in Europe from '09 should be good, u cant enter the European marjet with a s*** car!! :D

well i really thought u were just doing some biased talk, like how many here r!!!

well.. radmeister, its a shame that u dont know the ground reality!! Tata steel is the 6th largest Stell co in the world!! n u dont become that big by selling poor quality steel!! its just ur blind bias thats making u not look at the brighter side of the whole deal!! Tata has been in the auto industry for well over 50yrs, if u didnt know that, ofcourse, they were intially a truck maker!! but they do make some good cars now!! about the design part of it, they now own a design company in Italy, they were a former group from IDEA designings!! come on guys, just dont be so biased with ur views!! the shame is not that an Indian is buying out Jaguar and Land Rover!! the shame lies in the fact that a British company is not able to bid for their own famous brand!! n now thats a SHAME!! all for pride of the British auto industry!! lol!!

Being the 6th largest doesnt mean you are the best, far from it. This statistic depends on many factors, like tonnage of steel and # of facilites it has no reflection on quality. If you are unaware the steel used in cars is not that simple, there are many factors like quality of equipment such as "pickle" lines, proper maintenance of facility and rollers which range from 20,000$-100,000$ or even more depending on the input size of raw stock. I worked in 2 large industries dependant on steel, one a steel producer and another a power generation turbine manufacturer. And from experience i can tell you indian steel(by that i refer to steel made within india or from indian raw ore) is of the worst quality. They simply don't invest $ in the proper equipment to refine their poor quality raw ore. Their steel is used for less precise purposes, pipes, rods, low structural resistance beams and such. Toyota built a new plant here in canada where they had Dofasco a division of Arselor-Mittal build an in-house pickle line so that they can control the quality of steel going onto their cars more accuratelly. You cant just take a random sheet of metal and put it in a 200 tonne press and make pannels. Malleability, resistance to annealing and work-hardening are important factors, as well as resistance to corrosion, these things are not yet mastered by steel manufacturing plants within india. If they had good quality steel people would be buying from them because it's cheaper instead of buying from NA,Brazil,Germany,Russia,China. And again just because they have been making cars for 50 years doesnt mean that they have been making QUALITY cars for 50 years. Anybody can use wikipedia to make themselves look right. Even if you dont believe me about the steel, 6th largest and 50 years of car making have no reflection on quality.

Perfect proof is at the company i worked at we were shutting down our oldest facility that was well over 80 years old, we were going to discard all the machinery for scrap metal, until an indian steel manfuacturer came and baught the entire facility for 40million and put it on a cargo ship and put it in use in india... 80 years old, scrap metal. Still thinking bout how good their quality is???

we won't be surprised if production is slowly shifted to India ?? I can't believe this !!! Look at the Indians !! They grew up so fast.

I doubt the production will ever come to India, they might.. might have a plant in India, but that might be for local production!! but then, neither Jaguar nor Land Rover have a foot in the market!! so, first they have to make an enterance in India, only then can they think about manufacturing them there!!

With Global car manufacturing, morphing into the hands of maybe 10 or so Conglomerates, I only hope that If and possibly when, TATA do finally purchase LR/Jaguar, they honour the employees who have worked 5 years or more in the Midlands. This "Pension Figure", I suspect will hinge on how much the engine supply deal with Ford US costs the TATA Group.

I have a 1998 LR Discovery Series 1. One of the reasons I bought the car was Camel Trophy of my age. the second, it was British and I really like British cars because they used to have specific designs, not copied from another car and pasted amorphly.

Although I liked LR3 very much, the change has already begun when BMW bought LR. With the current running costs of luxury 4x4s and expectations of the customers, LR was not satisfactory for the new owners. customers demand cheaper fuel costs with the highest gadgets, luxury, and design that attracts the others on the road when buying a high end SUV.

that was not once the aim of LR when they first produced Series. Remember Range Rover was manufactured just to get the market back from Toyota in luxury SUV in mid 70s.

So in short, who ever want to buy LR or another brand, they are free to do. That car will not have the spirit of his grand parents anyway. that's not the LR we loved.

It was once meant to be simple, working under any condition either dry or wet. It should take you anywhere and could be maintained easily. Instead of that computers with flashing lights every 15 seconds.

I'll keep my disco as long as possible; not sure future LRs will make me enjoy the life that much.

One life, live it.