Tata to drive off with Jaguar!

SehaJ

Troublemaker


Ford is poised to name Tata as the preferred bidder for Jaguar and Land Rover, two of Britain’s most famous car firms.

Sources close to the negotiations say an announcement could come in the next fortnight, bringing to an end a six-month auction. Last week three bidders remained — Tata, fellow Indian car group Mahindra, and American buyout group One Equity.

Ford’s choice of Tata will be a significant moment in the history of the car industry, marking the first time a major western car group has been bought by an Indian company. Tata is expected to pay about £1 billion, although the exact amount is likely to be hammered out during the detailed talks that will follow the preferred-bidder agreement. Tata, a conglomerate led by Ratan Tata, will have to negotiate a settlement with pension trustees, and a side deal with Ford over the continued supply of engines and other components. Jaguar and Land Rover together employ 15,000 in Britain. It is understood that Tata plans to retain all three of the UK factories — at Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside.

Ford decided to sell the two famous marques earlier this year as part of a restructuring plan aimed at restoring its financial health. Like its Detroit rivals, it has suffered from fierce foreign competition, and high pension and healthcare costs. It bought Jaguar in 1989, and Land Rover in 2000. It has for the moment put on hold plans to sell Volvo, the Swedish car company. Sunday Times, London Tata’s small car test-run in April 2008

Kolkata: Tata Motors will conduct the first test run of its ambitious small car in April 2008 before the scheduled roll out during the middle of next year.

Sources said the track would be ready by next April, after which test run of the Rs one-lakh car would be carried out. Civil construction of the project was nearing completion. The engine shop, paint shop, press shop and the assembly area were getting ready while construction of individual roofs was complete, sources said.

The sources said the mother plant would require 640 acre, while another 290 acre would be allotted to the vendors. Referring to the vendor park, the sources said nearly 55 vendors had agreed to come to Singur in Hooghly district, the location of the small car project, with a promised investment of around Rs 2,200 crore.

This is in addition to the Rs 1,500-crore investment to be made in the mother plant by Tata Motors.

Sources said a prototype of the car was complete and would be showcased in an auto expo before the vehicle is rolled out commercially. Some of the major vendors that have agreed to come to Singur are Caparo Engineering India, Gabriel, Lumax Industries, Sona Koyo Steering Systems, Bosch Chasis Systems India Ltd, Amtek Auto, Lucas TVS, Tata Ryerson, Tata Johnson Controls, Tata Toyo and Tata Ficosa Automotive Systems.

Sources said to speed up the work, Tata Motors would go from two-shift to three-shift operations. This would help in meeting the targeted schedule of launching the car during the middle of 2008.

After the test run, it would take another two to three months for stabilisation of operations before the car is ready to hit the roads.

Source:: Times Of India
 
Top