Land Rover, probably my personal favourite marque of all time, and Jaguar have been sold to Tata; namely prolific Indian Businessman Ratan Tata. Like cut-price products thrown into a bargain-bin after going out of date, Ford Motor Company lopped off these two historically rich, but recently poor British companies for something around the $2 billion mark. Scratching Tata’s back with plans like continuing pension payments suppying drivetrain components for R&D, it seems the Blue Oval was keen as mustard to get rid of these underacheivers.
Some reports have indicated that Jaguar Land Rover have lost something to the tune of 383 billion American dollars in the last financial year. Purchases of the mostly luxury Land Rover Discovery’s and Range Rovers have slumped in key markets of the United States and Europe, as well as Jaguar’s well-documented flops with the X-Type and all-aluminium XJ8.
Land Rover’s venerable and iconic Defender has been a constant good performer in it’s small market niche and army fleet purchases; however man cannot live off bread alone, and Land Rover cannot live off Defender alone. Usual cash-cow Freelanders and Discovery’s have an unpredictable future in the face of environmental pressure, however history shows that the boys at Solihull can get it right and turn over a good dollar.
Land Rover created markets that did not exist before with the luxury/off-road/grand tourer box-ticker Range Rover in the late 70’s, and broadened a previously extremely small niche market with the original “farm on monday, town on saturday, church on Sunday” Series Land Rover in the Late 40’s. It seems that if anyone can read trends and adapt to the future, Land Rover seem to be a pretty honest bet.
Jaguar, whose history dates back to 1922, has had a long and colourful history of record breaking and trend-setting. Cars like the Mark II, E-Type Roadster, the original XJ, a questionless class leader in refinement and luxuries all are indicative of what the car maker has been capable. And don’t forget the XJ220: a somewhat quiet and humble true blue supercar with a record high speed for it’s time; stealing it away from Bugatti’s EB110 with a speed of 349 km/h.
But, as we all know, one is only as good as one’s last performance. And let’s be honest here, Jaguar’s has been dismal. With competition like Germany’s Big Three, along with contenders like Caddilac and Honda, Jaguar always had thier work cut out for them. The foundations are there, but things will be a struggle now, and in the future. The new XJ looks promising, but shaky with so much riding on it’s back.
Has Tata picked up a neglected basement-bargain that could be nurtured back to it’s former glory? The mere symbolism, of an Indian businessman now buying two of the most British car manufacturers existing from Detroit-founder Henry Ford’s descendants momentarily boggles my mind, like thinking about the size of space. The changing of the guard seems to be happening. England has had thier Mini Cooper, Italy it’s Fiat 500, all forward-thimking cars that mobilised entire populations. Now it is time for the world to brace themselves for… India’s Tata Nano – looking to put a billion Indians behind the wheel of a car, all for just 1 lakh of Rupee’s, or about $2,300 US. We better be ready, and so better be mother nature. Doesnt matter how little CO2 the little two-pot motors pump out, having hundreds of millions of them churning away is going to hurt an already dazed mother nature in a big way.
