[Easy Does It]

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily...99.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_top+story

excerpt......

New owner Tata's deep pockets could fund wider distribution and hefty marketing for Jaguar and the already hot Range Rover and Land Rover

Jaguar: Finally Ready to Roar?

Ford Motor (F) sealed a deal Mar. 26 to sell its British Jaguar and Land Rover brands to Indian carmaker Tata Motors (TTM) for about $2.3 billion. That is less than half what Ford paid for the two brands—Jaguar in 1989 and Land Rover in 2000—and it reflects their dysfunctional operations, which Tata will have to sort out.

For Ford, the sale is a curious liberation from businesses it could never quite figure out and that cost it, by some estimates, in excess of $10 billion in losses over the years. For some Brits the deal marks a surprising twist in a long road for two storied corporate names. Could Winston Churchill, or even the current Queen of England, have imagined a half-century ago that a pair of Britain's proudest industrial icons would one day be owned by an Indian company?

 

[GregD]

I've always felt the Queen & British investors should have stepped up and bought Jaguar and Rover before Ford.
Now, at half the price, they should definetly have brought the Company back to its origins.

 

[Easy Does It]

TaTa Motors

I am just not sure they can be all things to all people.... like building the finest Jag to the $2500 car ??

 

[moosety2008]

In many ways, the Germans have done the "wide spectrum" bwm and MB for while now. Mass producing a high end car is not the answere. There is a page to be taken out of the italian strategy and other High-end cars.. i.e Aston Martin. Increase the passion and inspiration, increase quality and exclusitivity, increase the price. Unfortunately a mass manufacturer like ford does not understand this principle, Not sure how Tata would do, but seems they may understand this concept a bit more than Ford. Just my 2 cents.

 

[leadfoot_mf]

I've always felt the Queen & British investors should have stepped up and bought Jaguar and Rover before Ford.
Now, at half the price, they should definetly have brought the Company back to its origins.

thought they sold it for 2x as much?

 

[Easy Does It]

took a fifty percent haircut (and a shave)

so says the article above..... ouch

 

[GregD]

thought they sold it for 2x as much?

Yes, Ford bought it for twice as much as the current offer from Tata.

But I have always felt that British Investors, with the help of their govt, should have stepped in and bought the company before Ford did.

Now that its being offered at 1/2 the price, it would seem to be an excellent time for the Queen to step in and salvage the Company, jobs, plants etc.
by purchasing it, or offering some sort of incentive, tax relief, for a UK investor or other UK manufacturer etc.

 

[BigFoot]

I think this will come back and bite Tata. LR is a good purchase but Jaguar is a money losing enterprise that will probably best be put to rest.

 

[M!]

british empire ruled india... now the table turns.
kind of humiliation.

oh well, most of the UK brands are not owned by british anymore anyways.

 

[BigFoot]

Still Britain is one of the biggest producers of cars with high tech sports car engineering to boot.

They've swapped owning brand for actually making cars.

 

[Easy Does It]

Late breaking news just off the wire....

TaTa buys Aston Martin for .......

just kidding.....

now that would not be good..........

 

[BigFoot]

Not that far off though as Aston is now owned by Prodrive and some Private Equity fund.

 

[brumma]

I too was hoping Jaguar would find it's way into British hands once again. Purchase by a company such as TaTa will destroy the brand. I believe Ford started off strong--they did produce quality cars for a while, but they seem to have lost the plot. They have definitely done more harm than good to the brand in recent years.

My wife drives our '00 XK8 coupe now that I've got the GS, and I can tell you that the new XK isn't half the car the old one is. The interior of the new XK is very poorly made... the plastic is cheap, the skins are paper thin, the wood veneers feel fake, the doors have no padding, the navigation system is confusing to operate... In fact, when I test drove one I managed to break the ash tray merely by opening it. Without knowledge of my mishap, my service rep. admitted that he had done the very same thing with the first car they received in stock! They should have spent more on the car and less on the advertising campaign.

I'd like to see Jaguar survive, but I have my doubts.

 

[BigFoot]

Why will Tata destroy the brand?

They have all interests in making money out of their purchase, so I doubt they'll take it apart (unless Tata is managed by sheer incompetents).

 

[RickBullotta]

Why will Tata destroy the brand?

They have all interests in making money out of their purchase, so I doubt they'll take it apart (unless Tata is managed by sheer incompetents).

Ratan Tata loves automobiles. I really don't expect them to screw it up while he's still alive.

 

[QP-516]

Xjr >> Gt-s

My wise decision to shift my choice to a GT-S after my XJR has been running for 11 years. Ford had put certain efforts in rescuing Jaguar, the supercharged engine is good as I had not experienced problem so far, but just cannot accept the current model, they are just nothing like a British car. Also, I am selling it now, what I expect to get back may be just enough to pay for my registration fee for the QP.

 

[brumma]

Why will Tata destroy the brand?

They have all interests in making money out of their purchase, so I doubt they'll take it apart (unless Tata is managed by sheer incompetents).

I'm referring more to the brand image. Jaguar has a very rich heritage, and bit-by-bit it's getting torn apart by each successive owner. Look at how the X-Type affected them. I don't think that selling a $2500 next to a $90000 car will promote the image of luxury that Jag needs.

 

[Alfa_Tiv]

Nothing says they would. Seems like Tata is very focused on the brand image and quality atleast according to the BusinessWeek article in this thread.

Getting bought by a deep-pocketed conglomerate with diverse businesses outside the auto industry and one that appears to understand the value of brand and image is probably one of the better things that could happen to Jaguar and Land Rover given their current circumstances.

 

[BigFoot]

I'm referring more to the brand image. Jaguar has a very rich heritage, and bit-by-bit it's getting torn apart by each successive owner. Look at how the X-Type affected them. I don't think that selling a $2500 next to a $90000 car will promote the image of luxury that Jag needs.

Agreed. The X-type was a tarted up Mondeo which the beancounters pushed and ultimately became Jaguar's weight around their neck. Both in terms of image (as you rightly pointed out) but also purely financial.