Impending sale of Land Rover & Jaguar

[Mikey1]

It looks like Ford have found a buyer for Land Rover and Jaguar.The favourite seems to be Indian Tata motor company, according to a money programme Ford will pay someone to take it off there hands because of the debt and pensions payments.

Let not hope this turns out to be another Rover situation where they take the profit and not invest back into the company and we see the loss of 2 Great British icons?

 

[Dustydog]

Land Rover has had a bit of a chequered career over the last decade. BMW had them, used some of their technology and brought the X5s etc. Strange that. I wonder why BMW didn't just further develop the LRs. Whilst I've never owned a LR we did look at the Dico a few years ago but were put off by its poor reliability record. Hopefully that has improved but where it will go with Tata, who knows?

Cheers

Alan

 

[Alex_374296729]

I never really understand the thinking in British Management.

The French or Italians would never get into this predicament, they would sell their surplus vehicles cheaper, to increase cash flow and promote the mark. We would not have so many variations, the basic LR2 does not even have a spare wheel.

The government does not really care - look at the farce with Rover.

Uk motor manufacturing has a poor track record, look at the truck industry - non existent. Uk bus the same, apart from Dennis and well ...

 

[seth1]

Alex,you,ve just took the words out of my mouth,hit the nail on the head.this country is a disgrace.every industry has gone,the government has not helped any.but go to france or italy,every government owned vehicle,or local authority vehicle is either renault or fiat respectivley.here in the uk we dont use our own vehicles anymore,because we dont build any now.

Example ERF trucks,firstly sold to western star,1999 the Germans showed interest ,for a few good reasons ,sold to MAN.800 english jobs went after ERF re engineered the german product for them.

Foden trucks sold to paccar after bankrupsy in 1980,yes paccar supported them for another 20 years but were was the government then.these pair were with out doubt the best engineered products in the world at the time.and the list goes on.

no encouragement to buy British what so ever.

i would like to know when the government are going to wake up and have a look around.another 20 years,we wont be speaking English in this country,its f...... shambolic.

 

[DavidW1]

I don't think UK taxpayers should prop up "lame Ducks", we have gone down that route before and it just doesnt work in the end - remember British Leyland, leyland trucks and more recently Rover MG

If carmakers can't sell their cars there must be reasons. If LR had managed to get it's reliability into the upper echelons of the JD Powers survey or Jag had kept it's value policy combined with Lexus quality then they would probably still be viable but we all know they failed to get anywhere near those goals.

Some manufacturers can do it succesfully and very profitably, look at BMW and Porsche for example and I don't think the German Government help them.

Why should I pay for LR to get their quality right or Jag to get a better model strategy. For sentimental or patriotic reasons? I don't think so. They had enough Ford money and we all know the result so why would HM Gov funding be any different?

The UK as an inovative world leader in technology and manufacture is still very much a reality and goes from strength to strength - look at aviation, the worlds best in wing design/manufacture and the undisputed no 1 in aero engines and thats just for starters.

If you still want to talk cars what about Nissan, Toyota, Honda and RR, OK they are not UK owned but the products from their factories in England are a byword for quality and exported all round the world.

I would rather see the billions of

 

[Angus1]

If TATA get L-R/ Jaguar I`ll give them 5 years before manufacturing in the U.K ceases.

The traditional markets will disappear overnight, and I for one wouldn`t contemplate buying a car from a company owned by another manufacturer whose products are at best seventh rate.

The technology will migrate to India, where it will remain unchanged (as per Hindustan and Peykan).

Might be kinder to let them die with dignity.

BMW/Merc 4x4 or a Range Rover badged TATA? Er........

 

[MichaelT]

LR not being sold because they're a 'lame duck' it's because Ford themselves are in financial trouble and need to sell assets.

LR have had record sales and record profits this year

 

[Alex_374296729]

The government only supports that which gets votes eg education and look at the results! 25% can't do the 3 R's proper like.

If one considers airport fire tenders; I think the firm is called Carmichael in Worcester area. Now owned by Malaysians. I was told a while ago that there is possibility of production of that company going over there.

Look at Longbridge, how much did that factory contribute to the local economy, what multiplying effect did each pound have, compared to the dole of each worker. When it comes down to it, it is basically poor management.

 

[seth1]

Well observed uk taxpayers shouldnt prop up lame ducks.But then uk taxpayers shouldnt have to prop up imogrants either.talk about wasting money."go to England ,get dole right away,work on the side ,send it home".what do our kids do in 20years for employment.the EU ,pump one million a day in to it,what for.Iraq, spend billions, lose lots of valuable life,for what ,help the yanks.since when have they worried about fuel costs,they,ve never heard of the o zone,nah doesnt apply to them.excuss my bluntness but its a joke.

BL on the other hand ,as sad as it is, have added to britains manufactoring downfalls,only by bad management.through the 60,s and in to the 70,s by being as they thought clever and buying most other makers out.in effect alienating them-selves.running out of money,thus not developing products.and by removing makes from production,opening the doors for foreign makers.

the same applies to the heavy truck industry,leyland management took over some big makes,certainly bigger and better than themselves.then it ended ,forget R an D,in effect held who that was left back.next to no developent ,open the doors to the foreign onslought. very sad,to think Britian was an engineering master at one time.

 

[Mikey1]

Reports i have read is the possibility of the cars being shipped to India in kit form then assembled in India and then exported.At the end of the day Ford just want it off their hands and arent worried about future build and quality problems.

 

[Pelyma1]

Hmmm I feel some of you need to read accounts a little better. Jaguaris the problem brand from a profit point of view, not LR. They are very profitable with good year on year increases. But LR is tied in with Jag, the Fl2 is made on the Jag line in Merseyside not in Solihull. Tata haven't changed the face of Tetley tea so lets hope they let LR and Jag get on giving them the capital they need but have never been given long term to produce excellent cars.

 

[Richard_374240293]

Land Rover have beaten the competition in almost every catagory in several surveys this year. They most definetely are not lame ducks. As for reliability problems, iron out the minor problems that you get with ANY car and you have a vehicle that will potentially live longer than it's first owner!

 

[RogerL]

There are two weak points in Tata's takeover of L-R/Jag. The Jaguar brand has been badly damaged by decades of poor quality and may never recover. L-R has little ability to develop new models, capable staff having been absorbed into Ford's engineering at Gaydon which isn't being transferred to Tata.

FL2 is an excellent medium SUV, developed at Gaydon, built at Halewood and will have to sell well to maintain cash flow for the L-R/Jag group. Defender will need to be moved abroad to take advantage of lower costs for it's hand-built nature. Range Rover is already facing competition from new Ford products. The closure of Solihull and development for housing may well generate the cash needed to keep the group afloat.

 

[JasonR_374341560]

What sort of business gets rid of a profitable line? First BMW and now Ford !

Something is wrong surely. We've had one Jag and two Land Rovers and wouldn't buy either marque again.

Apart from reliability there is better value elsewhere, LR still struggles with reliability in numerous polls and industry reports.

LR and Jag to India will hopefully be revenge for those dodgy takeaway's it's just a pity for the faithful followers of the marque's

 

[Mikey1]

I think the LR is a good car and people love it so do the car mags,but it still has reliability problems,bottom again in Whatcars reliabilty survey the same as 2006.

This is not the same as ANY car as Richard quotes,as lots of people on the caravan field will tell you.

LR and Jaguar need to sell in the US which will become more difficult as the Americans want it to be British.

They need to get the cost of the cars down (weak dollar etc)They wont get the cost down building them in the UK.

 

[Mikey66]

There are two weak points in Tata's takeover of L-R/Jag. The Jaguar brand has been badly damaged by decades of poor quality and may never recover. L-R has little ability to develop new models, capable staff having been absorbed into Ford's engineering at Gaydon which isn't being transferred to Tata.

FL2 is an excellent medium SUV, developed at Gaydon, built at Halewood and will have to sell well to maintain cash flow for the L-R/Jag group. Defender will need to be moved abroad to take advantage of lower costs for it's hand-built nature. Range Rover is already facing competition from new Ford products. The closure of Solihull and development for housing may well generate the cash needed to keep the group afloat.

Very much misinformed - Gaydon is design and engineering centre for both Jag and LR, NOT Ford. Have you seen the news about the LRX? Designed in Britain by a LR employee...

 

[Richard_374240293]

I think the LR is a good car and people love it so do the car mags,but it still has reliability problems,bottom again in Whatcars reliabilty survey the same as 2006.

This is not the same as ANY car as Richard quotes,as lots of people on the caravan field will tell you.

LR and Jaguar need to sell in the US which will become more difficult as the Americans want it to be British.

They need to get the cost of the cars down (weak dollar etc)They wont get the cost down building them in the UK.

When I said ANY car, I simply meant that there is potential for any car to have minor problems. I own a fleet of different cars including Skodas, Peugeots and a Ford. They are all working vehicles and are well used and abused. They also suffer minor problems from time to time. I also have a Land Rover Discovery Series 2 which I bought second hand. Since I passed my driving test twenty years ago I have driven possibly hundreds of Land Rovers having served in the British Army. Not one of them EVER broke down. Yet, I have had various problems with the Peugeots and previous Fords that I've owned. We pull our Pageant Burgundy with our Disco and its been fine. I wouldn't think twice about buying another Landrover. Also we have been to quite a few caravan sites recently and noticed that if one mark stands out as a favourite amongst caravanners, it's Landrover.