Tata Motors Buys Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.9b

Justin Berkowitz
by Justin Berkowitz

Farago said it might never happen, but it did: Tata's bought Land Rover and Jaguar. Bloomberg says the announcement will come tomorrow morning, perhaps even before the NYSE opens for the day. Tata has purchased Land Rover and Jaguar for $2.65 billion, or about the cost of dinner for four people at a pub in London. As we've said all along, the best English high tea in the world isn't served in England; it's in Hong Kong and India. So 150 years after flooding China with so much opium that the Chinese government started two wars with England to get it to stop, Chinese businesses bought what remained of Rover. Now the Indians are having their turn, as Indian industrial giant Tata (recently in the news for selling the cheapest new automobile in the world), have completed the deal to buy the former crown jewels of the British automotive manufacturing industry, Jaguar and Land Rover. Ford purchased Jaguar in 1990 for $2.5 billion and Land Rover in 2000 for $2.73 billion, making this a multi-billion dollar loss even if they hadn't been operating the companies for a total of 25 business years. Here's to hoping for a brighter future for these storied companies.

Justin Berkowitz
Justin Berkowitz

Immensely bored law student. I've also got 3 dogs.

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  • Nicodemus Nicodemus on Mar 26, 2008

    "Rover really isn’t held in high regard except by a very small number of people in the US. I laugh everyday that I’m behind a Rover that has a tire cover that says Hummer Rescue team." There hasn't been a Rover badged car sold in the US for nearly 25 years.

  • Joeaverage Joeaverage on Mar 26, 2008

    "Lotus is owned by Proton, which is mainly owned by the government of Malaysia. Has this been a problem for Lotus?" Well it didn't for me until you mentioned that... JUST KIDDING!

  • Red dawg Red dawg on Mar 26, 2008

    I just wonder how much "damage" this sale will do to the "prestige" of these two brands? I have a friend that has owned Jags for yrs. And when he found out about this sale he said: "I just bought my last Jag. This sale will ruin both marques".

  • Rtz Rtz on Mar 26, 2008

    Mirko Reinhardt, Lotus isn't even on most people's radar. It's niche and not a commonly known brand.

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