Everyone is sick and tired of it now. It has long been coming, but the status remains the same. As early as mid Dec 2007, it was said that a formal announcement will be made towards the ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover. It is the seventh day of the year 2008 and everything's still the same. Every motoring journalist has been waiting eagerly, and so have been the people.
Interestingly, Ford paid close to two million pounds in 2000 to claim ownership of Land Rover while Jaguar was added in the Ford family in 1989 for a whopping $2.3Mn! However, it is a talk of the past and things are changing, and how! Tata, considered to be not a big entity by many in the automotive circus, have reformed themselves. The overhauling has made everyone under the sun sit up and take notice of them. And quite an eyeball treat it is for us Indians, who can take pride from the fact that Tata is all set to take over the legendary sports car and luxury saloon maker - Jaguar and Land Rover - makers of world's best off-roaders.
The next big player in the bid has always been One Equity, but the deal is almost about to fall in the Indian major's kitty. Volvo, it is believed will stay put with Ford despite the parent company facing severe cash issues. The Blue Oval plans to make Volvo a more premium offering. This brings us to two very important questions - how will Tata use the technical knowhow of Jag and Land Rover and now that Volvo has entered into India, what will be the game plan be for Ford?
In India, Ford has been doing rather well over the past couple of years and with promising products in the pipeline, we can only expect a northward march for them. Volvo is considering India as a serious market, but have not revealed much about their India plans.
We will not comment on when the Jag-Land Rover deal with Tata will be done with, but hope earnestly that the technical prowess of the two giants is utilized well by the Indian giant. Get over with it soon, Tata, everyone's waiting.
