Tata Named Sole Jag/Land Rover Bidder

By Joseph Szczesny

Joseph Szczesny

Editor BIO

The automotive editor of the Oakland Press in Pontiac, Mich., and veteran automotive journalist, Joe's work is widely read in Detroit and around the... More

LATEST ARTICLE
Mulally: Ford Making Steady Progress
Ford Motor Co.’s turnaround is on track, chief executive officer Alan Mulally told the handful of... Read More

• N/ALEADERBOARD RANK
• 997ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 0COMMENTS POSTED

1,499 views Jan 3, 2008

2008 Jaguar X-Type

Ford opened up a new era in automotive history Thursday by announcing it hoped to sell the company’s Jaguar and Land Rover brands to India’s Tata Motors.

Ford had announced last year it planned to sell both Jaguar and Land Rover in a bid to raise more cash to sustain its core business in both North America and Europe while the company goes through a difficult and lengthy restructuring.

“Ford is committed to focused negotiations at a more detailed level with Tata Motors concerning the potential sale of the combined Jaguar Land Rover business,” Ford said in a statement that has been expected since before the Christmas holidays.

"There is still a considerable amount of work to do, and while no final decision has been made, we will proceed with further substantive discussions with Tata Motors over the forthcoming weeks with a view to securing an agreement that is in the best interests of all parties concerned," said Lewis Booth, executive vice president – Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group Chairman.

The announcement of the planned sale to Tata also amounts to the end of the line for the Premier Automotive Group, which Ford launched with high hopes in the late 1990s.

Desperate to raise cash, Ford sold Aston Martin, James Bond’s favorite brand, to a group of private investors last year for nearly $1 billion. Ford also considered selling Volvo, PAG’s fourth pillar, but Ford Chairman Alan Mulally pulled it off the market last year after deciding the Swedish company’s engineering skills were too critical to the company.

Tata appears to have become the the preferred buyer by default. The global credit crunch has meant that private equity groups have had much more difficulty raising capital since last summer and Ford’s management and board of directors did not want to take a chance on the deal failing to close.