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Tata to become Jaguar and Land Rover new owner
By Yoann Besnard on 18 December 2007 | 
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According to the Sunday Times, Ford will announce in a few days that Tata won the Jaguar and Land Rover bid. This wouldn't come as a surprise. Indeed, Tata was the favourite amongst unions and the company will likely be advised by Fiat on how to manage its new European brands. Tata also said it will keep the three factories.
So, everything appears to be fine for Tata, but some Jaguar executive are concerned by the consequences over the brand image of an Indian cheap car maker buying a prestigious brand. In an interview, Ken Gorin, chairman of the Jaguar Business Operations Council, which represents Jaguar car dealers in the U.S., has said that Ford should sell the two brands to another bidder, One Equity Partners, a private equity arm of J.P.Morgan Chase (JPM). He’s reportedly concerned that the American public won’t accept a luxury-car brand such as Jaguar “out of India.”
While the US are the largest markets for both brand, it might become a problem, but after all Ford is used to building crap cars there for years, so how would it be worse with Tata as owner?
