The Indian car company Tata aka the maker of cheap and nasty cars has recently flexed its financial muscle and bought the troubled Jaguar and Land Rover division from even more troubled Detroit Auto Company Ford. The buy out cost a cool 2.3 billion dollars. Most people I’ve spoken to about this think that Tata got a total bargain but there’s a reason Ford sold off the British automakers.
Basically Ford bought Jaguar in 1990 and the division has never made a profit since then. Land Rover is somewhat more successful and makes a profit so I won’t be speaking about them specifically. This article focuses on the Jaguar side as they are in much more of a difficult situation financially. It’s not a surprise that Jaguar was sold off as Ford is in dire financial trouble and really needs the money. So basically Tata bought a total lemon right? Wrong.
Buying Jaguar and Land Rover is the best move Tata has made in a while. For Tata this brings the higher quality engineering and design into the company as well as the ability to potentially translate a lot of the Jaguar luxury into their Tata branded cars at a much cheaper rate. Essentially the current parts in the Jaguar will be put into a Tata making the Tata a nicer car and the costs of development cheaper.
Tata is scoring big for their brand cars but the question is what does Jaguar get out of the deal? Let’s put something down for the record: despite the fact that Jaguar hasn’t made a profit in 18 years their star is about to rise. The newest XK sports car is stunning and the XF mid sized sedan is actually the most exciting car to be released in a while. The XJ luxury saloon is on its way and also looks revolutionary. If you look at all three of these cars they are all excellent competition for their German counterparts but due to lack of Ford funding they have suffered with what’s under the hood even though they excel in design.
You see, Jaguar has been using a derivative of the same engines in their cars for about ten years now. Sure they get refreshed, more powerful and slightly better but the problem is the engines are evolutionary not revolutionary. The same can be said for other critical issues such as handling and suspension. Jaguar in the past two years has been producing some solid cars but have not been able to compete against their rivals due to lack of research and development dollars.
So basically great deal for everyone right? Well Mercedes Benz and Chrysler tried it and the result was miserable so joining two car companies is not easy but hopefully the two will be able to make a success for everyone involved.
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I agree. Tata sees the benefit of owning the research and engineering facilities more than the brand itself. Although, it is a nice feather in their cap to own giant British brands like Jag & Rover.
Tata don’t only make cars. They are a conglomerate of HUGE proportions, and have their fingers in telecoms, food products, steel, vehicles, IT, construction etc. They also own Daihatsu of late, which was a great boost for their technology.
Honestly, Tata cars are really great. They are simple, cheap and to the point. They are strong and work under extreme conditions of heat, cold, dust and bad roads. There have been many rumours of build quality problems in SA, but I am yet to meet a Tata owner who is unhappy.
I very recently test drove a Jag X Type. The car has a stunning front end and a disappointingly rear look. The inside of the car feels cheap and underdeveloped relative to my Audi. Design cues are the same as they were way back in the old X Type, which is great to show off your heritage, but one needs to do so with some sort of renaissance to modern design like Mercedes and Audi have.
There is a new XF type, that is just an outright beauty. I’ve read many direct comparison articles, including a What Car? special on it, where it pit it against the E Class, the 5 Series and the A6. All three Germans were beaten in ALL categories.
Disappointing as it was to see an Audi loose to a Jag in design, performance, price, safety and build quality, I was pretty glad that Jag finally pulled one out of the bag.
The Jag name is about to rise massively, especially with the financial input of TATA.
Here’s hoping they make a good job of it HoTsTePPa
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