The Tata, Jaguar and Land Rover saga: how will it end?
Tata Motors said on Friday there was ‘no truth to the rumours’ that it was looking to sell its stake in Jaguar Land Rover
Hong Kong — The purchase of the storied Jaguar and Land Rover car brands in 2008 handed India’s Tata Group a challenge that had long frustrated Ford, the British marques’ previous owner: how to eke out a profit. For a while, Tata seemed to have found the answer. Within a couple of years of the acquisition, Jaguar Land Rover Automotive (JLR) was making money. Its Range Rover Evoque, a compact SUV with a distinctive crunched rear roof, was a runaway hit — so much so that the former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham got involved in a special edition. The Evoque powered JLR’s profits for years, accounting for most of parent Tata Motors’ earnings in the first half of the decade. The company’s market value soared above $29bn in 2015. Then China’s slowdown hit sales in what was once the car maker’s most important market; the UK voted to break away from the EU; and India’s biggest conglomerate was wracked by a power struggle as Ratan Tata fired his handpicked successor. JLR was also slow to reduc...
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