Posted on Monday 25 February 2008
Indian automotive giant Tata Motors met with unions from both Jaguar and Land Rover earlier this month to discuss the planned takeover of the British marques, which Ford is expected to finally confirm within the next couple of weeks. During the early bidding phase, Tata quickly became a favorite of the unions when it promised to maintain the five-year business plan already in place at Jaguar and Land Rover.
The talks between all parties have now concluded and according to union officials Jaguar is in safe hands. There were fears Tata had no interest in the long term viability of Jaguar and planned to sell it off after the Ford sale was finalized, but in an interview with Automotive News union official Dave Osborne said Tata has “totally ruled out offloading Jaguar.”
With the financial backing of Tata, Jaguar’s new model onslaught is almost guaranteed. This means we can expect to see the new F-Type roadster, next-gen XJ and rumored XF variants all make to production over the next couple of years.
EISH
The issue is not so much that the unions are aginst the sale of Jaguar once acquired jointly with LandRover but the continuity of jobs at the Castle Bromwich and Liverpool factories. If the unions are assured of future jobs, they will have no problems whatsoever with making LandRovers side by side with Tatas with no Jaguar within sight. Jaguar would be then spùn off. The investment costs of developing new models at Jaguar discourage too much Tata, so he has no real interest in the brand itself, but the production facilities where the cars are made.