Tata Motors asks for loan to keep Jaguar and Land Rover operational

With the economic crisis looming darker each passing day, Jaguar and Land Rover are having quite a hard time attempting to vend luxury vehicles, and parent company Tata Motors is appealing for a large loan to keep the British Brands operational. Overall, Tata is asking £1 billion from the British government to assist it pay off the bills. That is practically huge sum bearing in mind that it corresponds to £67,000 for each of the British brands’ 15,000 employees in the UK. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is reported to be nearing a decision concerning the loan, though it’s expected that the funds would come with a condition that looks after workers in the UK.
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dumpsty - 11/26/2008 9:48:11 AM

+1 Boost

Land Rover & Jaguar haven't really been very big companies historically. Wasn't Land Rover apart of the Rover group of brands before selling the SUV division to BMW or being bought in-whole by BMW? BMW divested and sold off what it didn't need after raiding the Rover/Land Rover 4wd technology bin.

Land Rover, Jaguar, Sterling, etc. were purchased by the US auto giants with the intent to infuse cash in their ailing brands and punch out better luxury products on a larger scale. Because none of the Big 3 understood how to properly market and design the UK brands with UK/European-biased designs, their "re-hashes" failed because the actual products didn't project "luxury, regal-ness, quality". The new American owners threw together some design that - basically - looked like a Jag on top of cheap mass-produced platforms.

The point I'm trying to make is that, LR & Jag aren't very strong brands. Any downward variation in the economy will affect their bottom line drastically. And we see this. Tata however, only seeing a chance to grab an existing product network in the US missed the fact that no other major company really wanted LR & Jag anyway.

aussiemonster - 11/26/2008 1:13:25 AM

+2 Boost

They'd been owned by Ford for years, so that comment doesn't make sense.

truckman - 11/26/2008 4:33:29 AM

+1 Boost

When I see the word Tata Motors all I see is this image of a rickety rickshaw with a lawn mower engine, how could these brands allow themselves to be bought out by some third world company?

pnsb24a - 11/30/2008 3:40:55 PM

+1 Boost

These two brands are rated the WORST in terms of problems etc. Let them show they can improve this before any money changes hands