Word: jaguar
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...relevant trend here, says Ronnie Screwvala, CEO of rising movie company UTV Software in Mumbai, isn't Bollywood buying up Hollywood, it's new, cash-rich Asia buying old, status-rich America and Europe. Think Tata Motors buying Jaguar and Land Rover, or even last month's announcement that the Times of India group will buy Britain's Virgin Radio. The tremendous growth in some parts of the Indian economy over the past few years has created a group of companies that can suddenly buy assets globally. "Internationally they are very competitive and thanks to the downturn in places like...
...Little wonder then, that when Tata Motors, one of India's biggest car companies, agreed to buy prestige British brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford three weeks ago, there were cheers in both India and Britain. Indian newspapers reveled in the fact that a company from the former empire had brought two icons of the British automotive industry, while Jaguar execs privately told at least one industry insider that they preferred Tata over rival bids from private equity firms because Tata understands the heritage of Jag and the motoring culture that produced it. "Buying this kind of thing builds...
...these are business decisions rather than gestures of colonial nostalgia. Tata bought Jaguar not because it is British, but because it thinks it can make the company work where Ford failed. Indeed, Tata might turn out to be more hard-nosed (and lucky) than Ford. For too long, Jag's American owners relied on the company's heritage to sell more cars, releasing model after model largely based on the classic Jaguar look that dates back to 1968. Though Ford never broke out separate results for Jaguar and Land Rover, analysts believe the former lost at least $10 billion over...
...Until clinching this purchase, Tata's main claim to fame was its recent introduction of the $2,500 Nano, a basic box on wheels sold only in India. Will luxury car buyers be put off by Jags (the price of Jaguar's latest sports car is more than $64,000) and Land Rovers made by an Indian company that also sells the world's cheapest car? "Not if it's sensitively handled," Wormald says. That means for the foreseeable future, both brands will likely continue to be produced in the U.K., to keep their British-made pedigree intact. Furthermore...
...buying two carmakers heavily reliant on the American market. As an apparent recession kicks in, sales of all luxury cars in the U.S. are starting to tumble. And the weak dollar doesn't help matters either. So look for Tata to try to open up emerging markets for Jaguar and Land Rover across Asia and Russia. "There's certainly room to do that," Wormald says. "But it will take an awful lot of time and money." Still, as gambles go, Tata's seems more likely to reap the payoff that eluded Ford...