Tata has been discussing with Ford since it leads the race to buy Jaguar and Land Rover.The sale was confirmed by Tony Woodley,joint leader of Unite,the largest trade union of Britain, which had backed the Indian automobile giant in its bid.

“Tata views this deal in positive terms as it is able to make an international presence, instead of being a company which focuses only on its home market,”said Mohit Arora,the managing director for India at J.D. Power Asia-Pacific.Ford sold these luxury units for less than half the price that it had paid to acquire them. Ford bought Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.5 billion and $2.7 billion in 1989 and in 2000 respectively.As the US auto major had met with loss of $12.6 billion in 2006 and $2.7 billion in 2007, it has decided to sell off its Jaguar and Land Rover units to focus on its main brands.

“We’re pleased that Tata made long-term supply agreements for the Jaguar-Land Rover components, especially the engines from Bridgend and Dagenham, said Tony Woodley”.

“Jaguar and Land Rover are extraordinary brands,” said Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford in a statement. “We are certain that they are going to flourish under Tata Motors,” he added.

Tata said it doesn’t expect any major changes to the work force at Jaguar and Land Rover units.The company has agreed to maintain the British work force around the current 15,300.Tata announced that the transfer of the brands would take place the end of the second quarter.

Tata should introduce adequate capital to rescue the brands from facing losses and to develop new products to better compete with other luxury carmakers such as AUDI, BMW,etc said Erich Merkle,vice president of IRN Inc.

“Now, the time has arrived for Ford to concentrate on the world wide integration of Ford brands, as we are going to implement our strategy to create a strong Ford Motor Company that yields profitable growth for all,” said Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford.

This article is the property of http://www.ElegantDirectory.com
Copying and publishing any article from our site is strictly NOT allowed

Land Rover’s Range Rover Sport
(Credit: Land Rover USA)

Top authorities of both Tata and Ford discussed with the British union leaders last week to take a final decision prior to drawing up a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the sale.

“The sooner everything gets settled, the better,” said Roger Maddison, the national officer of Unite, the largest union in the UK auto industry. Tata has accepted to meet the demands raised by the Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) union leaders, said Maddison.

An important question is that whether Tata would persist in obtaining the engines and other techniques from Ford’s manufacturing unit. Ford officials were not immediately available for comment.

A reliable source within Ford informed that the announcement was being delayed for the launch of the new version Ford Fiesta at the Geneva auto show next week. India’s auto major Tata has been in discussion with Ford since it led the race to buy the two luxury car units.

Labor union Unite on last Friday, announced that it had made constructive talks with Tata regarding the take over of Jaguar and Land Rover. Unite is the major trade union which represents the labors of Jaguar and Land Rover. It consists of nearly 12,000 members. Ford refused to comment on Monday, but said that it expects a deal early in 2008.

Dave Osborne, the national secretary of the Unite union, said Tata had promised to provide a long term job security for the JLR workers. “Tata denied the rumour that it had no plan to manufacture Land Rover in India or to offload Jaguar after the deal,” said Osborne. John Gardiner, the representative of Ford refused to comment on dates for the sale.

Tata Motors will enter in to an agreement with Unite, the labor union of Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) and Ford the within a few days, to cement the deal regarding the takeover of brands, expected early March.

Tata is considering the demands raised by Unite union such as keeping the production units within UK, job security for JLR workers, maintenance of pension scheme and to make terms and conditions to ensure that employment and engineering work will not be offshored.

“We expect an agreement early this March” said the spokesperson of Ford. But Tata refused to comment. “It is a confidential process and we don’t want to comment on these matters” said the spokesperson of Tata.

This article is the property of http://www.ElegantDirectory.com
Copying and publishing any article from our site is strictly NOT allowed