As part of the $2.3 billion deal that gave India’s Tata Motors ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford , the company also acquired rights to the famed Daimler luxury car name (not to be confused with Daimler AG). Ratan Tata says he’d like to position the brand well above Jaguar, and compete with the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce for markets in Britain, Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and probably America.
Tata is apparently budgeting nearly $2 billion to develop new models in the three British-based brands it has purchased. At the same time, Land Rover and Jaguar might be taken further upmarket, priced as high as $200,000 for some future models, say Times Online reports.
Both of the moves are in sharp contrast to Tata’s plans to also build and sell the world’s least expensive car, the $2,500 Nano.
The Daimler Motor Company has a storied history, being one of the first automakers, having been founded in 1896. It originally sold engines developed by founder Gottlieb Daimler in Britain. Whole cars were first built in 1897, and posted a first victory in motorsports in 1899, when a four-cylinder Daimler won the Paris-Ostend road race. By 1960, Jaguar acquired Daimler, before both were purchased in 1989. Britain’s Kind Edward VII was the first member of the royal family to use a Daimler vehicle.
Currently, the only Daimler-badged vehicle is the Jaguar-based Daimler Super Eight, having been launched in 2005 and costing £80,000 in the U.K.
