Fiat still interested in Jaguar & Land Rover technology

With the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata Group expected to be announced within weeks, Italian giant Fiat may finally get access to the premium RWD and AWD technologies it’s always dreamt of. Fiat was one of the first carmakers rumored to be interested in buying Jaguar and Land Rover because of its desire to acquire new technologies for future rear-driving saloons plus AWD SUVs and crossovers.

Soon India’s Tata Group emerged as the most likely buyer of the British carmakers but Fiat always remained in the picture. Both Tata and Fiat have already formed a joint-venture to produce whole cars, engines and transmissions in India, and now Fiat may use its close association with Tata to share some of Jaguar and Land Rover's technology.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed to Britain’s Sunday Times that he hopes Tata will be successful in acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover. He also revealed that the first application of Jaguar’s technology would be for a new flagship model from Alfa Romeo, most likely the replacement for the 167. There’s also the possibility that Alfa Romeo could use Cadillac’s Sigma platform but the Jaguar solution seems more likely.

Tata, meanwhile, will gain by using Fiat’s European dealer network to sell its new Nano minicar, but no European release date has been set for the world’s cheapest car.