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’s entry into the mainstream of global automobile production. Only time will tell what will ultimately become of Jaguar and Land Rover, but we doubt we’re alone in wishing Tata the best.