Zastava_101

According to numerous published reports today, Ford is expected to announce within days that India's Tata Motors will be the preferred bidder for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. Assuming this happens, look for Tata to pay Ford up to $2 billion USD for the pair of iconic British marques.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/12/16/r...nd-rover-soon/

Rapture

Too bad. so sad.

Edit The new xk is what a Mustang should be today

http://www.jaguar.com/uk/en/xk/highl...troduction.htm

Zastava_101

I'm actually glad they got rid of Jaguar.

Moosetang

Should result in some goodwill for Ford on the Street, the JLR burden has been a huge negative for them.

Martimus

I'm glad to hear that they're looking to get rid of Land Rover! I've never been overly impressed with those vehicles though I recognize that Land Rover is pretty much a British automotive icon.

future9er24

Maybe its a good thing that Jaguar and LR will no longer be costing Ford money, but I hate the thought of Tata motors running them.

Has anyone here been to India and ridden in those POS cars? Poor Jaguar

TomServo92

I wonder if Ford will retain some ownership like they did with Aston Martin?

Evil_Capri

That didn't happen. I thought the same and posted something on BON a week or so ago and was informed (and verified) that FMC sold 100% of AM.

http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/defa...8-1783_2160816

Hollywood_North GT

I agree. Personally I think it will spell the end of Jaguar once-and-for-all. The brand is tarnished enough already. The idea of this company running a prestige British marque won't sit well with luxury buyers and will probably turn the remainder of them away, and ultimately, be the final nail in the coffin.

Either that or Jag will be re-tooled into a faux luxury brand for emerging nations.

Buh-bye Jaguar, it was nice knowing you.

Moosetang

Being owned by Proton hasn't prevented Lotus from enduring, as long as TaTa doesn't muck with them too much Jaguar can survive.

ScottyBoy302

India taking over a British manufacturer, funny little twist.


Well, funny for me...but not very funny for Jaguar.

Hollywood_North GT

Yeah, I thought about that irony, too. The tail is now wagging the dog for sure.

V10

As long as TaTa wants to throw billions & billions of pounds down the toilet.

Are you guys forgetting that when Ford bought Jaguar they were barely in business, lossing pounds hand over fist and their quality & reliability were so horrible that several conversion shops did big business putting Chevy engines and electronics in Jags to make them useable as daily drivers.

The last thing in the world TaTa should do is NOT muck with Jag. Ford's biggest mistake with Jag was not mucking with Jag enough.

Hollywood_North GT

Ford's biggest mistake was acquiring Jag to begin with.

97svtgoin05gt

It's a shame this couldn't have worked out better. I don't care about Land Rover much, but I wish the Jag thing could've worked out better. I like Jags, I think they're very sexy, stylish cars.

The thing that really gets me about this is they're owned by an India company now. F that.

Hollywood_North GT

Which is a shame, cause the new XF seems to be a pretty good car.

In fact, Edmunds said: Compared to this, every German sport sedan looks about as interesting as a lump of coal.

RCSignals

Ah yes more of the Nasser legacy.

Ford shouldn't have bought either of them. There was a reason BMW couldn't wait to get rid of LR.

rhumb

Knd of a shame and ironic that Ford ditches Jag now just as they finally seems to be producing some truly compelling modern cars.

The XK, as the adds say, IS gorgeous and a great drive to boot while the XF moves Jaguar styling into the modern age and out of retro limbo. The XJ sedan will apparently also be introduced to the 21st century in its next iteration. And finally, the X-Type, basically a rebodied Contour, which worked only a bit better than the Caddy Cimmeron, will be dispatched with.

Now if they come up with a true replacement for the iconic and ultra sexy E-Type...

RCSignals

Yes that aspect, Ford ownership, has been good for Jaguar.

Knight

when it was doing bad it prob wasn't even worth enough to sel, so now that it has some decent cars it can be sold at a better price.