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Tata signs sponsorship deal with Ferrari F1 team for 2009 season

 
3 4,791 views Dec 18, 2008

Tata is already heavily involved with Ferrari’s parent company Fiat

Tata is already heavily involved with Ferrari’s parent company Fiat

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Despite the global financial crisis, Ferrari has inked a new sponsorship deal with a car manufacturer. The famous Italian formula one team will add Tata, an Indian multinational, to its roster of backers in 2009, president Luca di Montezemolo told Italian media on Wednesday.

"For the first time an Indian brand will appear on the Ferrari," he said. "It's historic."

A Ferrari spokesman confirmed the deal, with the details set to be announced in due course.

Tata was associated with the Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan's formula one career, first with Jordan in 2005 and subsequently at Williams. The boss of Tata, Ratan Tata, is also already heavily involved with Ferrari’s parent company Fiat, joining the Italian carmaker’s board back in 2006 after he was recommended by the Agnelli family, and both firms are already tied up over an engine supply deal.

The same year that Tata joined Fiat’s board, the Italian carmaker increased its stake in Ferrari to 85% and it still retains an option on a further 5% sold to Arab Emirates' Mubadala Development. Speaking previously with Italian media, Tata described his passion for cars and aircraft, explaining that he’s always dreamt of being able to be a fighter pilot as well as participating in the shareholding of Ferrari.

As Ferrari expands into the rapidly growing Indian market a partnership with Tata could turn out to be extremely lucrative.



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Comments (3)

  1. ma_www.mywheelsonwalls.com avatar www.mywheelsonwalls.com Posted: 12/18/2008 8:27am PST

    I guess Ford forgot to give Tata motors their file on Jaguars entry into F1 on how much it really costs to be successful..

    This just seems nuts to me although I'll give them credit they are with the right team.
     
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  2. ma_mburleigh8 avatar mburleigh8 Posted: 12/18/2008 1:05pm PST

    Wow, that might play out to be a very good move after everyone comes out of this recession.
     
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  3. ma_LandroverCrazy avatar LandroverCrazy Posted: 12/19/2008 7:01am PST

    it just shows they have money to burn and that JAG and LandRover are in good hands :)
     
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