The Hindu Business Line : Jaguar-Land Rover deal: Formal announcement awaited

Mumbai, Dec. 21 The race for Ford’s Jaguar and Land Rover is well into its final leg, but the formal announcement on who will be the new owner of the two iconic brands may take just a little longer.

The Tatas seem to be in the driver’s seat for the moment and British media quoting unnamed sources had expected an informal decision on the same by this week-end.

However, a formal announcement from Ford may take more time, as the US carmaker may not want to alienate other suitors who it may need in case the deal with the favoured bidder falls through, overseas media-reports on Friday said.

Complex commercial discussions and the selection process could be reason for the delay in a formal announcement, the reports suggested.

Bid estimates

The Tata group is in the lead for Ford’s marquee brands, with its bid estimated at over $2 billion. The rival bid from Mahindra & Mahindra, the other player in the fray, is reported to be at $1.9 billion. Also in the race is OneEquity, a private equity firm headed by former Ford Chief Executive Officer, Mr Jacques Nasser.

The two marquee brands top the popularity chart as well as customer satisfaction surveys in the US — Jaguar is third and Land Rover is eleventh in JD Power’s latest sales satisfaction survey. As a result, it will be a price catch for the company that may emerge as the final buyer, according to reports. But in the recent history of Jaguar, sales in the US (its biggest market) plummeted from 60,000 in 2002 to 20,000 last year. And this does not present a rosy picture, the media report said.

‘Gas guzzlers’

Also, there are reports that major global players in the auto market did not want to take over the two iconic brands as they were known to be ‘gas-guzzlers’ at a time when emission norms are getting tighter.

But for Tata, bagging Jaguar and Land Rover would mean that the technology could be applied to its own models to strengthen its position in the domestic car market, an analyst said.