The Indica story: Behind Tata’s buyout of iconic JLR, an old tale of humiliation

Behind Tata Motor’s big-bang buyout and the eventual turnaround of the iconic but troubled Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) brand, there was an old tale of abject humiliation meted out to Ratan Tata and his passenger car business team by some officials at American giant Ford Motors, who formerly owned the brand.

In 1999, Tata Motors considered selling its passenger vehicles division to Ford Motors due to the poor performance of the Tata Indica, the car brand on which the company had pinned huge hope. Ratan Tata and senior Tata Motors officials went to the US to discuss the potential sale.

Also Read: How Ratan Tata impacted millions beyond the boardroom

During the meeting in Detroit, Ford officials expressed their interest in buying the division. However, the meeting turned unpleasant as Ford officials reportedly told Tata representatives, “You do not know anything, why did you start the passenger car division at all,” and suggested they were doing Tata a favour by considering the purchase.

The Tata team returned to India following this meeting. Pravin Kadle, a Tata Group veteran, recounted the incident at a public event at a later time, describing it as “humiliating”.


In contrast, by 2008, Tata Motors successfully acquired Ford’s Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) division for $2.23 billion. Ford Chairman Bill Ford acknowledged the significance of this deal, stating, “You are doing us a big favor by buying JLR.”Also Read: Ratan Tata’s ambitious Nano dream after seeing Indians sandwiched on scooters

The acquisition marked a major turnaround for Tata Motors. The company has since hugely strengthened its position in the global car market, and currently secures a substantial part of its revenue from JLR.

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Pioneer Newz is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.

Leave a Comment