The news has been circulating for months, but the Murdoch Press reports this weekend that the official announcement about Jaguar and Land Rover’s sale to Tata will be made within the next fortnight.
   Present owner Ford looks set to get £1 billion from the sale.
   Given Tata’s ambition, the sale could make sense and give it two divisions that fit—perhaps not neatly—above its present range of cars in India.
   The long-term investment into the two brands is open to question as this marks the first time an Indian automaker has acquired western marques. And that has always been my nervousness with the set-up.
   There is no immediately obvious potential for platform-sharing among passenger cars, though it is easy to envisage Tata adapting the Jaguar X-type platform (ex-Ford CDW27) to a mid-sized car of its own. In turn, that means a potential tie-up between Ford and Tata, allowing the American automaker a chance to increase its south Asian presence. (Ford currently builds a sedan version of the Fiesta in India, as well as a previous-generation model called the Ikon.)
   Land Rover fits more naturally with the existing Tatas, and there is some appeal to having both a budget and a premium range, with the possibility of cooperation.
   Meanwhile, the newly renamed AROnline site—formerly The Unofficial Austin–Rover Resource—speculates on whether the Rover brand, also owned by Ford, would be included in the deal. I would say that it would, as part of the intellectual property for Land Rover. And there, I can see a lot of potential.
   In any case, since the Tata group’s cars, including the much-vaunted Rs 1 lakh model at the bottom of the range, lack any ready fit with Jaguar and Land Rover, I expect the decision to be far more strategic for both groups than brand- or product-based. Posted by Jack Yan, 03:00  permalink

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