Posted on Friday 8 February 2008
Indian automotive giant Tata Motors is set to have a meeting with the trade union from Jaguar and Land Rover on February 8th. Seemingly the front-runner in the bid for the two British marques, Tata earned union support last year as it promised to maintain the five-year business plan already in place at the brands. The union, called Unite, fears other buyers may reduce staff numbers or simply close plants to help rejuvenate the brands financially.
Roger Maddison, the union’s automotive national officer, told the British Financial Times, “We will be restating our requests for guarantees on sourcing, pensions, and the future of individual plants. These guarantees have already been given by Tata, but we will ask for them to be minuted.”
While the brands seem to be on the up, with Land Rover achieving record sales and the new Jaguar XF sedan receiving very promising reviews, there still remains a lot of work to be done once the acquisition has been completed. Ford has released a statement saying they are working closely with only Tata however Mahindra & Mahindra and One Equity Partners still remain as other potential buyers.