After months of speculation, posturing, and negotiation, Ford has confirmed the sale of British brands Jaguar and Land Rover to Indian automaker Tata Motors today.
The much-guessed at final purchase price for the two historic marques has been settled at $2.3 billion, though Ford has agreed to infuse attendant pension funds with an additional $600 million when the deal fully closes early this summer. Regulatory approvals are all that are needed to finalize the sale.
(Click through the jump to read on or on the thumbnails below to look at galleries of the latest Jaguar, Land Rover, and Tata products.)
Ford CEO Alan Mulally sounded upbeat about the ability of Tata to manage its new automakers, saying in a statement, “We are confident that they are leaving our fold with the products, plan and team to continue to thrive under Tata’s stewardship.”
Mulally went on to reiterate that the move will allow Ford to renew focus on its core brand saying, “Now, it is time for Ford to concentrate on integrating the Ford brand globally.”
+ Automotive News: Ford to sell Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3B (subscription required)
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“Now, it is time for Ford to concentrate on integrating the Ford brand globally.” Bullpoopy. This was a move of a company that is hemmorraging red ink and has no other ideas. Owning Aston Martin, Land Rover, and Jaguar gave Ford a certain cachet, now its just… well, Ford. Sad.
Good Bye, Jaguar, my precious pussy. You were lovely while you lasted. No more living left in your powerplant for you, my love. We will all deeply miss you and herald the days of our past. So deeply sad for everyone. 8(
I think this is a watershed moment for Indian manufacturing (and marketing) — if they can bring Jaguar back to the forefront of luxury brands, it will change the way the world views Indian goods.
If they fail, I’m sure there is some other company willing to buy these brands at the same discount Ford gave to Tata.
Paging Malcolm Bricklin…
I agree with X3 SoB about the loss of cachet. I always got a little kick out of saying that the Aston V12 was “just like two of my engines welded together” when I had my Contour (which I know wasn’t entirely true, but a Ford engineer did say there were similar design elements). I hope Ford follows this up by really leveraging their Euro design experience into a renewed US lineup.
Well, we all know that we are at a time when we are even willing to sell tried and true brands to third-world government-connected organizations to continue this path of making more fuel-efficient cars, which is exactly what`s happening now. We are selling the gas-guzzling monstrosities of our yesteryear to the buyers of the gas-producing third-world. They make the oil, they can make our clunkers. Hopefully, this will pay off for the industrialized world and not become a thorn in the side of freedom, democracy and capitalism.
Mind you, hopefully and most likely, there will be some way to wrench them out of Tatas and India`s grip and revert them to a productive and forward-thinking enterprise as their predecessors had fully-intended for it, and not a store-front for below-cheap third-world job-grabbing.
This seems to me to be a great idea, honestly. They have enough problems on their hands to worry about. Get rid of the excess (Jaguar and Rover), focus on strengthening the core, work more efficiently and forward-thinking, build a better product, and you’re on the right track. This is a good step. Now we’ll see if they can continue to follow through…
Now all Ford has to do is sell some of its excess production capacity, and they should be good to go.
Is Tata going to keep Jaguar, or did they buy the package Ford offered in order to get Land Rover and look to sell off Jaguar?
[…] Ford has officially confirmed the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to upstart automaker Tata. While it’s likely to be years before anyone can conclusively say that […]
AutoExcellenta….. exactly which “third world” country are you talking about here? The same country that bought your Tetley, Corus, JLR, Brunner Mond, INCAT International, Pearl Group and 14 outher British companies. Hard Luck buddy…. I dont thnk you guys ae blind enough to see that you are in reverse colonialism… a colony of India and China. You lost it and lost it so bad that you will never win again.
Look at Triumph Motorcycles … Tata might emulate their business case - Build in Thailand, assemble in Britain as a 100% British product. Make sure quality is equal or better than the Japanese and pricing isn’t too exorbitant.
[…] caught the media limelight recently by closing a deal with Ford, and purchasing its British brands Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3 billion. In the mean time, the third largest Indian passenger automaker is also eying a project in […]
[…] Motors is apparently moving right ahead in its plans for newly acquired Jaguar and Land Rover. The Indian automaker is said to have already green-lighted the funds needed for each brand to […]
[…] Not even the most loyal Ford employee could fault Sneath for quitting his job then and there, but the lottery winner wasn’t content to merely leave the automaker. The rather jaded former employee told reporters gathered at the lottery office that he had no plans to buy a Ford ever again. “I worked for Ford Motor Co.,” said Sneath, “I won’t be buying a Ford product.” […]
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