India's Tata, Mahindra eyeing Jaguar, Rover

Thai

Thai

Elite Member
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Tata Motors Ltd. <TAMO.BO> and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. <MAHM.BO> are exploring the possibility of bidding for Ford Motor Co.'s <F.N> Jaguar and Land Rover brands, the Economic Times reported on Thursday.

Tata Motors, India's top vehicle maker, may finance a bid with joint venture partner Fiat <FIA.MI> or with private equity firms, the newspaper said, citing sources in the industry.

A Tata Motors spokesman declined comment on the report.

A spokesman for Mahindra said the report was speculative.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper had earlier reported Tata Motors had instructed advisers to evaluate the merits of a joint offer for Jaguar and Land Rover, valued at about $1.5 billion.

It had said Tata Motors' evaluation of a bid was at an "exploratory" stage and may not lead to a formal bid.

Ford said last month it was working with financial advisers on the best options for the two premium brands. There have also been reports that it may sell its successful Swedish unit Volvo.

But Jaguar and Land Rover are expected to attract limited interest, sources have told Reuters. Initial indications of value are due to Ford on July 19, they have said.
 
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NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian automakers Tata Motors and the Mahindra group are considering separate bids to buy luxury British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from struggling US carmaker Ford Motor Corp, according to media reports on Thursday.

Ford announced last month that it was considering selling off the two iconic marques as it restructures its North American operations.

Media reports have pegged the deal as worth around 1.3 billion to 1.5 billion dollars.

Tata Motors, India's biggest automobile company, has appointed advisors to evaluate a bid and signed a confidentiality agreement with Ford to access financial details of the two brands which have a combined British workforce of 19,000, the Business Standard daily quoted unnamed sources as saying.

The move would be in keeping with Tata group's growing appetite for overseas acquisitions.

Earlier this year, Tata Steel bought Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus for 13.7 billion dollars, India's biggest ever foreign takeover.

Leading tractor and utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra, which formed a joint venture this year with France's Renault and Japan's Nissan, had also signed a confidentiality agreement with the US carmaker, the Economic Times reported.

Ford bought Jaguar in 1989 for 2.5 billion dollars and Land Rover from Germany's BMW in 2000 for 2.7 billion dollars.

Spokesmen for Tata and Mahindra declined to comment.

The Economic Times said Mahindra and Mahindra's real interest is in Land Rover, but since the two brands are being offered as a package deal it is looking at a combined bid.
 
Editorial: India Inc. Motoring On
21 July 2007

Reports that two Indian vehicle manufacturers
 
This was posted on another forum...but funny!

Roadside Assistance: How May I Give You Excellent Service Today?
india1.jpg
 
Well, since this thread is going down the pipe with just me posting, i might as well post this famous link about out sourcing jobs: http://www.illwillpress.com/tech.html :D

BTW, i apologize for offending anyone who found what i post offensive. It's all in good harmless fun. If you want me to remove it, then please PM me.
 
Thai said:
Well, since this thread is going down the pipe with just me posting, i might as well post this famous link about out sourcing jobs: http://www.illwillpress.com/tech.html :D

BTW, i apologize for offending anyone who found what i post offensive. It's all in good harmless fun. If you want me to remove it, then please PM me.
Click to expand...

Herro, my name is Roher, how may I help you? Try spending an hour with that troubleshooting Cisco...
 
Hehehe, if Tata had a twin city, you'd have Tatas!! :p

Boobies make me happy. :biggrin2:





Yeah that's about all I got out of this thread, some dothead company wants to buy some crappy brands that Ford took and cheapened up, so they can cheapen them up some more, and there were some tatas in there somewhere..... life is good :bigok:
 
RamThis said:
Hehehe, if Tata had a twin city, you'd have Tatas!! :p

Boobies make me happy. :biggrin2:





Yeah that's about all I got out of this thread, some dothead company wants to buy some crappy brands that Ford took and cheapened up, so they can cheapen them up some more, and there were some tatas in there somewhere..... life is good :bigok:
Click to expand...
:iagree: Couldn't have said it better myself!!
 
RamThis said:
Yeah that's about all I got out of this thread, some dothead company wants to buy some crappy brands that Ford took and cheapened up, so they can cheapen them up some more, and there were some tatas in there somewhere..... life is good :bigok:
Click to expand...

Ford is actually a good parent company...and may have helped LR more than BMW ever did. LR and Jaguar belonged in their high-end group (Ford's Premier Auto Group) and thus gave them much independence in design.

Not sure if this is a true story, but....

A few years ago, just as Ford took over Jaguar, a Ford executive ask Jaguar engineers to pick the best assembled Jaguar car on their lot and ship it to Detroit for examination. Then Ford took a regular Taurus off their lot and placed next to the best-of-the-lot Jaguar from Britain. Ford engineers examined both cars closely. Conclusion was unanimous. The Taurus was a better built car than the Jaguar!

Another story...again not sure if it's true, but....

Ford executive flew to Britain to look at Jaguar's manufacturing plant. There, the executive remarked, "I have seen worst plants..............like the tractor factory in Russia."

Now, this has no relation to LR...but these stories/folklores prove one point...Ford may not have had much to work with when they take over another manufacturer.

The fact that BMW flew the nest proves that LR was a diasaster to begin with. BMW did invest quite a bit of $$ (current Range Rover redesign) and lost a lot of $$$$ when they abandoned ship. Trust me, BMW would not have done it if the ship was still manageable. Without Ford, there would not be any Land Rover.
 
To build on what Thai said, I am part of the manufacturing realm, and we hear lots of things Ford has done over the years to advance the science of manufacturing. They have become victims of their own culture being outdated, but that being said, they still lead over the Brits. True, the Brits started the industrial revolution, but martini lunches (or room temp ale) and a severe superiority complex hampered Jaguar for decades. Anyone here every own one? We had one in our high school car club. That damn thing ('83 XJ I-6) was great to drive and very stylish, but ALWAYS needed something.
Toyota is now the world leader in manufacturing. Their vehicles may not always be the best designs, but the lean manufacturing tools they use produce the most productive factories in the world while still kicking out few defects providing a low cost system, and bringing in huge profits.
Ok that's enough:rant:
 
The Good Oil: Ford sells Jaguar and Land Rover
5:00AM Saturday December 01, 2007

Ford has reportedly sold British marques Jaguar and Land Rover. The deal was done a few days ago but won't be announced until February. The likely buyer is Tata, the giant automotive company in India. Tata wants to become a major global name and is looking for a European vehicle development centre. Ford earlier sold the other famous British nameplate, Aston Martin, to British-Kuwait interests. Another thing: Ford now apparently wants to hang on to Volvo.
 
Yet another bad sign for LR's future: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/08/0824_india_auto/index_01.htm

"India's automakers haven't been known for being terribly innovative. Indians are among the world's top producers of motorcycles, but when it comes to cars, the industry's most famous locally made vehicle has long been the Ambassador, the iconic but stodgy car launched by Hindustan Motors half a century ago.

The industry is about to take a big jump forward, however, as some of the top names in Indian industry prepare new models that are extremely low-cost. Tata Motors, part of India's largest private-sector conglomerate, is likely to launch its new $2,200 car in January, 2008. Many other Indian auto industry executives have plans to roll out ultra-inexpensive cars of their own, priced at less than $3,000. Here are some of the contenders."
 
It's final: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/industry/tata-wins-bid-for-jaguar-and-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
 
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