Comments on: [update] Union backs Tata’s bid to acquire Jaguar, Land Rover

By: sharpie

sharpie — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:32:37 +0000

Car companies own a stake in each other nowadays. Really why is it so bad for Tata to own them? Ford is an American company and America started out as British colony too. Resources were taken until the Declaration of Independence. I don’t see the difference between an Indian company owning a British company and an American company owning it. Both were former British colonies owning a British company.

Sure if Sir Richard Branson (or some other rich British) would come “rescue” Jaguar and LR, that would be great, right? I think the Brits missed the boat. They should have saved the British Leyland group back when it fell apart. Instead, we have all these British brands owned by German, American, Swedish and so why not Indian? Bottom line, money talks.

By: 1c3d0g

1c3d0g — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:30:47 +0000

Bah! : evil:

By: Scarface03

Scarface03 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:00:14 +0000

I, like others, don’t feel like it matters who foots the bill and reaps the rewards. And no one said anything about an equity firm needing to know diddly about cars.

What matters to the enthusiast is the same as what probably matters most to the employees–owners who give a damn, have a plan, and the money and brainpower to back it up. Tata says it will keep management and production in place, establish a European development center, and already has strong British ties to coordinate with existing Jaguar and Land Rover engineering centers. This show an intent to make Jag/LR strong again and a receipe by which to do it.

I don’t recall Cerberus ever going on record with as much dedication to Chrysler’s future. A couple failed models, a union setback or two, and a handful of poor sales quaters strung together, and Chrysler may find itself begging for Indian ownership.

By: LP640

LP640 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:05:31 +0000

Piss off Tata !

By: Rotman

Rotman — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:33:26 +0000

Well, with regard to Indian business conduct, it will probably take at least 13 years before all papers are signed by the requested 21.569 people who have to have at least 7 stamped and signed copies of each sheet before they even think about actually making a deciscion and pick up a pen to sign the bloody contract.
/rant

By: CA36GTP

CA36GTP — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:47:25 +0000

England continues to sell itself to India piece by piece. Shame that a country that used to have such culture is now a cesspool of Arab refugees and Indian opportunists.

As for whoever said that the English won’t get their hands dirty, you’re an idiot. Ever heard of the Honda plant in Swindon?

Regardless of whether or not quality falls at Jaguar/Land Rover (not that it was up very high to begin with), they won’t feel the same to me.

By: jackjimturkey

jackjimturkey — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:49:48 +0000

bodacious ta-tas!

By: CTS DRIVER

CTS DRIVER — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:02:56 +0000

^i thought it was that Mexican media tycoon, but that changes.
come on man join in dont let this be your last post.

By: SunSetsOnEmpire

SunSetsOnEmpire — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:32:58 +0000

MY FIRST AND LAST COMMENT ON LLN
i never post, but i had to this time
as an american, i beleive india really does deserve this because they were plundered of resources, freedom and dignity when those lobsterbacks invaded

to have the queen rolling in a car made by india… thats called karma haha

besides, do u know the world’s richest man is no longer bill gates… its an indian- 65 billion

By: JohnnyBlazE

JohnnyBlazE — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:59:51 +0000

I really dislike Indian call centres too Blakkarr, and I’m Indian!

I am skeptical about TATA owning the companies, but it could go either way. The people here mentioning India’s economy and the growing middle class are correct…

By: Blakkarr

Blakkarr — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 07:46:59 +0000

The Indians make the winning bid: I would loathe to call tech support. The mechanics would, too.

The Americans (an Equity group) win it: The jury is still out. Cerberus has yet to do anything to give me pause one way or the other.

By: alfa_Romeo

alfa_Romeo — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 07:05:54 +0000

Don’t underestimate TATA…
they already own a couple of British (tetley tea) and European brands (Hispano Carrocera S.A) and make software for Ferrari f1 team……
and the merc factory in india was awarded the best factory (outside germany) award atleast twice…….
But i dont think they will take the production out of europe, instead they will use the technology for making cheap cars for their brands and let Jag and LR be seperate entities….

By: Got Handling?

Got Handling? — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:50:11 +0000

India makes a lot of sense, Brits (apart from the Northerners) are too well-paid to get their hands dirty building anything but the most expensive of cars and the old empire connection ties in nicely with the British feel of these brands.
.
India’s upper classes are fast regaining the prestige they enjoyed at the start of the twentieth century and unlike the Arabs, they have actually achieved their new wealth through hard work, education and good business. Their recent acquisitions of major international companies and high-profile brands such as an F1 team will all contribute to moving international attention away from their enormous poverty problem and toward their successes. I don’t think that there would be any stigma attached to an Indian Range Rover in a few years time.
.
Sam, its not true that all the money Brits made was stolen from India, they got a fair bit of it from Africa and North America too.

By: sharpie

sharpie — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:36:58 +0000

Surprise no Chinese firm entered bid. The brands may evoke some British sense, but companies have gone global with operations all over. They all have stakes in one another too, so really Indian may feel like owning something that was form Britain, but it’s really just two car companies. With the strong Euro, any one of the three bidders will probably close Jag’s Coventry plant and build cars elsewhere. In the end, they are just brands with British heritage that had been watered down long before they were acquired.

Same goes for Mini.

By: sam

sam — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:47:36 +0000

Guys… Don’t forget that all the money Brits made where stolen from India… Even the diamonds on the queens crown where stolen from India…Britons might have been rich for sometime…. before that India was a rich country… someone else before that… its just a cycle. no one rules the world throughout…don’t get surprised if India or China …………………..

By: autonut

autonut — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:42:58 +0000

For one India does need Land Rover: roads are the worst. They would not complain about quality either: they’ve been building ’40s Morris well into late 80s. Limies will be pissed off ’cause they would loosing jobs. Aston Martin what is your take on this development?
Cerberus is in business of making money and according to Money magazine they are into American Icon. They feel that they will make it work. And they did all the right moves so far with new management. The old guard I think there in caretaker capacity and will be gone soon enough. There is nothing for Cerberus to gain from British labour trouble. then again it maybe them who is in the running.

By: Commodore

Commodore — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 00:16:26 +0000

It will be won by one of the Indians. They have a bigger desire to win the British brands, because unlike the American investment firm that just wants to make money, the Indian automakers have a special sense of pride from owning 2 British brands, considering Britain ruled India for so long. It like the former slaves enslave you.

By: TOZO

TOZO — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:23:01 +0000

It’ll probably be sold at the 7-11 anyway. Mahindra was supposed to be out of the running! Mahindra and ugly-ass Scorpio truck! Does Cerberus not see how neatly Jaguar/Land Rover badge engineering could potentially overlap with Chrysler? They should really get back into the race.

By: GARY

GARY — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:22:09 +0000

Their first car is going to be called the 7-11.

By: 441Zuke

441Zuke — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:19:02 +0000

the jaguar curry

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:00:23 +0000

I find this development extremely interesting. First of all to the purists: who gives a **** where a car is built or who’s signing off the R&D cheques- just make sure it’s worthy of the marque. And in reference to next years F1 ‘Team India’, it wasn’t that long ago ( anyone remember Eddie Irvine? ) that Jaguar was in the sport. Might we be seeing the regenesis of Jaguar’s F1 aspirations? I, for one, would rather that than all these ‘B’ teams that exist in F1’s current iteration.

By: jackjimturkey

jackjimturkey — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:52:08 +0000

CA36: GM should bring back the LaSalle brand, and produce hyperluxury rigs

By: meanpants555

meanpants555 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:09:09 +0000

Don’t undermine India which has an explosive economy and a growing middle class. There is a tremendous amount of investing in India and its infrastructure. If they want to fund Jaguar and Land Rover, so be it.

By: CA36GTP

CA36GTP — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:02:02 +0000

Indians and other middle eastern types are taking over Britain, this doesn’t really surprise me.

You what would be really out there? If GM bought them, merged Land Rover into Hummer (Land Rovers are **** anyway), and sold Jaguars as a niche brand above Cadillac. That’d just be fuggin weird.

By: SwerveEarly

SwerveEarly — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:45:33 +0000

These companies have been bailed out by the Gov’t, passed around by foreign entities like Paris Hilton on a all night beneder for over the last 20 years now. Let them run there final cycle out in India. Atleast there are real Jags in India.

By: autonut

autonut — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:37:23 +0000

The biggest investor in America was England all during XX century. I think smart money knows that buildings in Manhattan, Miami, Los Angeles and SF is more profitable then Jaguar and Land Rover put together.
American Investment house can fix those companies. The problem they have is product mix and quality of their products. Those are topics covered during the second semester of MBA program. Fire marketing schmack, bring one from Infinity (Lexus is spoken for), fire COO and hire one from Honda (either British or US). Honda builds great cars in US and UK.
Restore corporate brand and sell each company separately at a higher cost.
Indians will be building Jags and Rovers in India and that will be one funny coup de grã¢ce: they already play cricket better then brits (and Italians play better football). Looks like in Britain they do know how to drink their tea in a proper manner.

By: carguy70

carguy70 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:25:06 +0000

I wish some British Wealth would regain control of Jaguar/Land Rover. When I think Jaguar or Land Rover/Range Rover I think ENGLAND!!—Tea and crumpets!—Hammer Films!—Sherlock Holmes!—James Bond!—JAGUAR!—Land Rover!

By: global_lightning

global_lightning — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:14:39 +0000

The Indian companies are an interesting proposition. Ford could gain a minority position in the companies, giving them access into one of the fastest growing markets. After the X-Type fiasco, Jaguar’s name in the U.S. is mud, and LR is pulling out of years of funk. The future is China and India.

By: jackjimturkey

jackjimturkey — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:12:14 +0000

How proud

By: jamaicandude

jamaicandude — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:11:01 +0000

I still can’t imagine LR and Jag being owned by an Indian company… these British luxury car marques and Indian just don’t sound like they belong in the same sentence together. That’s not to say they won’t do a good job though… but I’m still skeptical. Well, There’s gonna be an Indian team in F1 next year too, so I guess why not?

By: CTS DRIVER

CTS DRIVER — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:58:23 +0000

bmw squandered their chance and dont deserve another shot. seriously there is nobody in brittain willing to bring theese once prestigious brands home where they belong? at least if an american firm gets them the british jobs will be secure.

By: LP640

LP640 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:49:39 +0000

what the hell would India contribute to Jaguar and/or Land Rover, Plus what the **** does an investment company know about cars??
Just Sell them to the VW group/ BMW