Tata 'to buy Jaguar and Land Rover'

Last Modified: 25 Mar 2008
Source: ITN

An Indian company is reportedly going to buy Land Rover and Jaguar on Wednesday in a deal worth around £1 billion.

US car giant Ford, which owns the British-based companies, is apparently going to announce that India's Tata Motors will take them over.

Land Rover, whose models include the Range Rover, Freelander and Defender, is based at Solihull in the West Midlands.

Jaguar, which makes the X-type, the XJ and and the XF series, has plants at Castle Bromwich in the Midlands and at Halewood on Merseyside.

Ford and Tata, whose business empire also includes Corus, have been in talks since last year and Wednesday's deal is expected to safeguard around 16,000 UK jobs.

The sale is expected to be welcomed by unions as the best deal to be had.

Tata has already spoken of its commitment to the two marques and to UK motoring.

The company's boss, Ratan Tata, said at this year's Geneva Motor Show that he planned to "retain the image, touch and feel" of both Land Rover and Jaguar.

He went on: "There is no need to tinker with the brands. Our challenge is to make them thrive and grow."

Tata is taking over the two companies at a time when Land Rover is profitable but Jaguar is suffering financial losses.

The Indian company recently announced the "people's car" - the £1,200 Nana - and motoring experts believe that while Jaguar and Land Rover are only a small part of the vast Ford empire, the two British-based companies will be a major part of Tata's business.

The takeover means that some of the most famous names old British motoring names are in foreign hands, as BMW of Germany owns Mini and Rolls-Royce, while another German company Volkswagen is in charge of Bentley.

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