Ford to announce sale of Jaguar, Land Rover for $2B to Tata -- report

[OhioChick]

Source: CNN

NEW YORK, Mar. 24, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Ford Motor (NYSE:F PRS) (NYSE:F PRA) (NYSE:F) is expected to announce the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover brands to India's Tata Motors Ltd. on Wednesday for about $2 billion, according to a published report.

The sale agreement is expected to include a pledge by Ford to contribute to the two businesses' pension funds, and for Tata to continue to buy engines from Ford, the Financial Times reported.

Ford was not immediately available for comment on the report.

Italy's Fiat SPA is interested in working with the companies if the sale to Tata goes through, the report said.

Ford's stock was up 6.1% at $5.96 in late-afternoon trading, and hit a 2-week high of $6.02 earlier in the session.


Read more: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-23984562.htm

[rockymountaindem]

1. So now *Jaguar* will be owned by an Indian firm?

Ahh... post-colonialism comes full circle.

[entanglement]

17. European capitalists never imagined new rivals emerging from the former colonies

After all, Europe's vision of capitalism has always included the (tacit) assumption that *Europeans* should fill the ranks of dominant owners of capital. The development of rival capitalisms (from dark skinned peoples of the despised third world, horror of horrors) must really hurt.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Tata? Oops, I was thinking Toto.

But it did seem strange that Ford would sell Jaguar and Land Rover to a toilet company. http://www.totousa.com/index.asp

[merwin]

10. It would make sense.

Both of the brands are crap now.

[Thor_MN]

19. Building where I work has Toto fixtures in the bathrooms

I live in fear that I will actually vocalize the lyrics that run through my mind everytime I enter the bathroom. "All I wanna do when I wake up in the morning is see your eyes" is NOT what one to hear from the guy standing next to you...

[Double T]

3. Won't be long UNTIL Ford is sold to Tata Group.

PATHETIC!

[Solly Mack]

4. Bunkie: "Bootsie, where's my Jaguar? " Bootsie: "TATA!!!"

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

5. never heard of them

pretty amazing

[Tunkamerica]

8. I heard they were trying to introduce a $3000 car to

America. This was a few weeks ago.

[fujiyama]

9. Are you thinking of the Tata Nano?

I don't think those were intended to be marketed in the US, but mostly for developing countries. They don't really include much in the way of safety features and I'd doubt they would pass US safety standards.

[Tunkamerica]

20. No, there was a story on the radio the other day about how

they were trying to break into the US market with a $3000 car. No model has been introduced, it was just their plan.

[FarCenter]

6. Acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover was a mistake for Ford

Now we'll see what the combination of British manufacturing and Indian organization can really do!

[truthisfreedom]

7. Those Ford-uars suck. Blobular, slow, and ugly as sin.

The only thing they have in common with the real thing is the hood ornament.

[alllyingwhores]

11. With the exception of the X type (which is discontinued, you don't know what you're talking about...

"In the XKR, an Eaton supercharger is added, ramping horsepower to 420 and propelling the Coupe from 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. The engine defines power, just as the silky 6-speed ZF sequential-shift transmission—it allows gear changes via steering wheel-mounted paddles—characterizes control."

http://www.jaguarusa.com/us/en/xk/highlights/highlights/introduction.htm

[CRF450]

15. Fuckin expensive! I'd take a Corvette over one of those things.

They perform better and cost way less.

[Fenris]

12. Probably a lot of the latter and little of the former.

TATA is building a gigantic manufacturing facility in India and it's believed that TATA will build Land Rovers there, unlike how BMW continues to build MINIs in England. Because Ford sold Jag/LR as a package, TATA had to buy Jaguar, which TATA did not want. There is speculation (well found, IMHO) that TATA will turn around once the sale is made and sell Jaguar to one of the interested British parties who only wanted Jag and not LR.

Downside: Possible end of British LR production. Upside: Maybe LR will stop being known as a painfully unreliable vehicle brand.

[CRF450]

14. Delete

[BluePhildog]

16. x-type

I love my 2.5 x-type, smooth and I get 30 mph when I keep it under 70 on the freeway. Plus getting a used one is way cheaper than buying a new hunk of scrap metal. Tally Ho!

[CRF450]

18. I replied to the wrong post at first but oh well...

Thats nothing really special though. Even my car, an 01 Trans Am can get 30mpg/hwy. And this is with a 350hp v8, the key to getting good mpg from an engine that big and powerful is lighter weight, (though I consider 3600lbs HEAVY, but most performance cars esp performance sedans are right at 2 tons), tall gearing with a 6 speed tranny, and good aerodynamics. Hell, the Corvettes now have 436hp with a 6.2 v8, and 505hp from a 7.0 v8 and return similar fuel milage to what I'm getting, which is an average of 22mpg. These are lighter cars too BTW at 3200lbs. The Corvette is far from being a hunk of scrap metal. It is the perfect example that when GM can get their shit together, they can build an awsome car far better than the competition at a good price, which in this case its for performance cars. But if they can focus and put a good amount of effort to their regular cars for effeciency like they do with the Vette for performance, they wouldn't be in the position they're in today.

[LTR]

13. Nice Tatas

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

[Buns_of_Fire]

21. As in "bodacious tatas?"

My, my. Ehhh, what's a few millennia in purgatory amongst friends, right? :spank: