For Sale: British Automotive Manufacturing

Tata Motors, the Indian automotive giant recently made famous by producing “the world’s cheapest car,” has just purchased British auto makers Jaguar and Land Rover for a reported $2.3 Billion dollars from Ford. The deal will remove the British manufacturers from the hands of the Ford Motor Company, which, for lack of a better word, blew it. While Land Rover sales have increased in the recent years, following the SUV trend and catering to the affluent crowd looking to out size their neighbors, Jaguar has seen a steady decline in their numbers, with sales falling 33 percent at the beginning of the year. The $2.3 Billion dollar price tag is less than what Ford paid for Jaguar alone in 1989, showing little faith in the value of what once was a major player in the luxury automobile game. Employees of both companies, with factories still located in the UK, expressed both concern and excitement. Some appeared enthused; knowing that the acquisition would create job security, while others expressed concerns somewhat reminiscent of those expressed when the companies were taken over by Ford. The fate of the British automotive manufacturing now lies in the hands of Tata’s CEO.