jag and landrover sold to TATA!

[FrankenSchwinn]

newest rumors are that for ford has again lost another 12% market share and that they'll need to sell their british stuff. Tata is said to be the one signing the check very soon. there isn't much left that's british anymore. the "empire" treated the chinese and indians so inferiorly, and look at it now. it just sounds ironic doesn't it?

[Drew]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mDc8HthxhVA

:p :

[Malbec]

Selling Jag and Land Rover when the former is about to become profitable and the latter already is profitable is a BIG mistake.

Selling them to Tata is an even bigger mistake.

Jaguar has taken this long to be turned around with full access to the entire Ford R/D facilities and parts bin. Tata has no history in such high end car manufacturing, how are they going to maintain engineering quality for the next generation of Jaguars? Ford will forever be remembered for being stupid enough to let go of a unit on the brink of profitability and selling it to people who won't be able to keep it going. Fools.

[Daniel]

Selling Jag and Land Rover when the former is about to become profitable and the latter already is profitable is a BIG mistake.

Selling them to Tata is an even bigger mistake.

Jaguar has taken this long to be turned around with full access to the entire Ford R/D facilities and parts bin. Tata has no history in such high end car manufacturing, how are they going to maintain engineering quality for the next generation of Jaguars? Ford will forever be remembered for being stupid enough to let go of a unit on the brink of profitability and selling it to people who won't be able to keep it going. Fools.
Pretty much. Aston too. They sold the brand when it had turned to gold. They really must be screwed if they're selling off the good bits to keep Ford alive.

[airshifter]

Both were rubbish and dead weight. I'd have dumped them sooner.

Coming close to making profit equates to taking losses. Why spend time and money developing another brand image that has to be pulled out of the garbage?

[Malbec]

Both were rubbish and dead weight. I'd have dumped them sooner.

Coming close to making profit equates to taking losses. Why spend time and money developing another brand image that has to be pulled out of the garbage?

Jaguar and Land Rover already have a strong brand image. The hard work of rectifying a reputation for poor quality has already been finished. Jaguar's sales were limited by a lack of diesel (not any more) and by a retro-looking S-Type (rectified by the XF). As I said its on the brink of profitability.

Land Rover is already highly profitable. What's the sense in selling a profitable part of your business?

In fact perhaps Ford out to consider selling the loss making part of its business, ie Ford US and simply carry on with Jaguar and Land Rover.

The whole point of taking over brands like Jaguar is to invest in them to turn them around and reap the rewards when they become profitable, not to sell them off at a loss when you've finished investing and are just about to see black in the books.

[FrankenSchwinn]

haha, LR is almost the least reliable car company of the world, how is that profitable?

and jag is no where near being out of the financial troubles because the marque needs much more than a new image, which they still don't have, they need to be more energetic cars. they've got too many ford plastic parts and too much plastic in general. they've got crappy engines, especially the diesels. and poor road handling (despite posting a sub 10min around the 'ring) just like every road jag ever built.

and finally what makes you think that Tata isn't good enough to make it profitable? it is a car company that makes money after all (how long has it been since an english car company made money?) and why wouldn't they buy the brand to simply bury it? or maybe take it over for a little while, give its people a false sense of freedom, make them live in certain sections of town, make them carry special ID cards saying that they buy or build jags/LRs, beat them, rape their women, control every aspect of their lives, destroy their country and its infrastructures, create wars between its own people and then a final coup de grace by closing down jag and LR. Tata would leave waving bye bye and go back home to laugh their butts off......

but i guess not -all- my dreams can come true can they?

at least i know Mikko or Seb will win the championship next year..

[Malbec]

haha, LR is almost the least reliable car company of the world, how is that profitable?

Ford has to release information about its subsiduaries to its shareholders.

According to their financial records Land Rover made a profit.

Is this such a difficult concept for people to understand? Ford got more money from Land Rover than it cost to run for the last financial year. Its all in the public domain.

Yes Land Rovers aren't that reliable but people are still willing to pay a massive premium for their cars. Says a lot about brand strength doesn't it.

So you say that Jaguar has a problem with its Ford components and engines (I agree with you about that). Tell me how TATA will supply superior components and engines compared to a car giant thats been around for close to a century and sells on all 5 continents? You claim that Jaguars don't handle (debateable, they're not meant to be as hardcore sporty as their German rivals). How is TATA going to do compared to a company that punts out excellently handling cars like the Focus, Ka, Cougar or until recently Aston Martins? Where is the engineering strength in depth at TATA?

[FrankenSchwinn]

all the while forgetting my third and lengthiest paragraph saying that they'll just shut the companies down.

the "public domain" part you wrote about is simply a marketing ploy for simple souls like yours to put your money where their mouths are (i hope you don't get a mental picture here). it's all about cutting mad curbs to sell that company while profitable in order to make some profit on it. then as it goes down the drains, ford will say "hey, looka here, y'all cant do nofin right, we had had dat comp'knee workin' right bee-fo y'all towel headed freaks came 'round, tis not our fault y'all can't make curs run right". and then Tata will say it's because ford left them with a crappy car company and all will have a point and the doors will close with no one protesting. at least that's what some say....

i think the brits will protest the boiling of meats through their protest for jag and LR closing down saying that warm beer and boiled meats have to go as well as the general populace thinking rubarb is a fruit and that wigs belong in courts or government all together and finally repeal the tea tax and recognize that the entire middle east "troubles" come from the british pushing for an independent israel, ruthless capitalism through colonization and putting their noses where they don't belong..

the one thing that Tata knows how to do is to make a profit, and that's just that much more than what the brits know how to do......

[FrankenSchwinn]

i actually went online and checked out fords "P.A.G." financial reports and they claim a -$97 profit up from -$508..... yippeeeeee!!!!!!!!

[rah]

I think Ford might be selling them because they need money now. Maybe Jag and LR do not have the profit potential that they need to pay the bills they need to pay.

[janneppi]

At least Tata knows how to make cheap cars, they just announced a 2500 dollar car. :)

http://www.aamulehti.fi/uutiset/ulkomaat/6346085-big.jpg

*Old man not included

[Malbec]

the one thing that Tata knows how to do is to make a profit, and that's just that much more than what the brits know how to do......

Yes of course, because Ford, GM and newly sold Chrysler are just so profitable aren't they? Maybe TATA are taking over the wrong bit of Ford. Perhaps they ought to bring their expertise to Ford US and turn it around.

Re: shutting Jag/LR down, perhaps it would help if you wrote clear text. Yes of course, I can see exactly why an equity firm and two Indian car makers are planning to spend millions bidding for two companies for the right to shut them down. Makes eminent sense doesn't it!

Maybe it would help if you offloaded that huge chip on your shoulder about the British!