Date:30/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/bline/iw/2008/03/30/stories/2008033050851702.htm

Tata Motors brings home JLR trophy

S. Muralidhar

Tata Motors' acquisition of two iconic British brands - Jaguar and Land Rover - was finally completed earlier this week. Well, it is true that their immediate previous owners were American, but the flavour of the two companies continues to be very Brit. Tata has acquired the two companies for about half the price that Ford paid their original owners when the latter acquired them in 1989. Though that sounds like a good deal, it is not going to be all rosy for Tata Motors after the acquisition. The real work starts now for this global Indian, trying to pull together the two brands and making them more profitable while still being weighed down by their historical issues. Jaguar and Land Rover are both special, super premium brands that have a huge fan following. It is Jaguar that has lost a bit of its shine over the last two decades, losing its pre-eminence even amongst British buyers to other European marques. Earlier this year, the hugely popular Jaguar S-type was replaced by the new XF, a futuristic, luxurious four-door coupelike sedan that shows equal promise. Tata Motors has said that there will be no change in the management of the two companies and that there will also be no interference in the independent operation of these two brands and companies. The ownership of the two brands has changed hands, but the brands themselves will remain untarnished. And Tata Motors itself has just become more global. Calls to separate the passenger car business from the rest of the company will only get shriller now.