India's Tata acquires Jaguar, Land Rover for 2.3 b

[nhboy (Premo)]

"NEW DELHI (AFP) - India's Tata Motors said Wednesday it was buying British luxury icons Jaguar and Land Rover from ailing US carmaker Ford for 2.3 billion dollars as it vaulted into the premium global car market.

The cash purchase, part of plans by India's top vehicle maker to expand its reach beyond Asia, capped months of talks with Ford Motor Co., which is selling the prestige brands to focus on turning around its North American operations after losing 15.3 billion dollars over the past two years.

"We are very pleased at the prospect of Jaguar and Land Rover being a significant part of our automotive business," Tata group chairman Ratan Tata said, pledging to keep "intact" the emotive emblems of the once reigning British auto industry and "build on their heritage."

Tata Motors, part of the steel-to-outsourcing Tata Group empire, said the amount to be paid would be 2.3 billion dollars and added Ford would kick in up to 600 million dollars to the Jaguar and Land Rover pension plans."

"Now it is time for Ford to concentrate on integrating the Ford brand globally as we implement our plan to create a strong Ford Motor Co. that delivers profitable growth for all," he added in a joint company statement.

Ford is getting less than half what it paid for the two marques after buying Jaguar in 1989 for 2.5 billion dollars and Land Rover in 2000 for 2.7 billion dollars. It has also pumped in millions of dollars to turn around the brands.

Jaguar is still unprofitable but Land Rover is showing progress, analysts say. Ford does not supply profit figures for the two brands."

AFP.com | Agence France-Presse, a global news agency

[C6R_Mag]

Does not sound too promising for Jaguar and Land Rover. I hope it works out!

Depending on how the quality continues, won't this drive up the price of these manufacture's vehicles?