Excellent point Vlad!
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Excellent point Vlad!
Good point Vlad - but my concern is this:
Asian car manufacturers in developing economies have always relied on foreign development for new models. Once Landrover is annexed to Tata I can only see the intelectual property flowing one way. Landrover are unlikely to have access to any further, more advanced R&D beyond what they come up with themselves.
This will be a true test of LR's ability to "go it alone" in R&D.
and India is part of the Commonwealth, their citizens have fought beside the Anzacs in most major wars and they make excellent food :D
and some friends have finally married off their younger sister, and we have been invited for a Monsoon wedding at Puna, near Mumbai sometime around June.
If we have the $$ it should be blast......can just see me pretending to be some sort of Bollywood Dance God......not :lol2:
Interestingly enough, I was going through some old LRO mags last night. In the Oct 06 editition they wrote an article:
"Land Rover could be Shanghai'd ... because owners Ford can't afford to keep Jaguar".
"Ford may be putting Land Rover up for sale in a bid to shore up its faltering global empire. And it could result in Land Rovers being build in China."
The automotive giant is in dire financial straights and the sale of Land Rover - the most profitable member of the Ford family in the first half of the year - is seen as a way out.
Fellow Ford PAG (Prem,ioer Automotive Group) member Jaguar is still losing money and many pundits believe Ford will sell Jaguar and Land Rover as a job lot, with Land Rober acting as the 'sweetener' to any would-be buyers.
The story of Land Rover and Jaguar up for sale was first broken in August by the Sunday Times. Interestingly, neither Land Rover nor Ford has since issued a flat denial.
The news came after Ford's second-quarter lo0ss for this year was more than double previously reported - $254 million instead of the expected $123 million.
Jaguar lost more than 400m pounds in 2004, and last year Ford pumped 1.2billion pounds into the brand to keep it afloat. Ford has declined to comment on the potential sale of Jaguar, but a spokesman said: "Everything is on the table. We are reviewing the business".
With Ford's crisis escalating, it's possible that its assets outside the USA could be first to go. Land Rover and Aston Martin are profitable, while Jaguar is still climbing out of a financial abyss created when Ford overestimated its value and future sales a few years back.
Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin would probably attract interest from private equity or a Chinese concern. Last year,. MG Rover went to Shanghai.
Ford could sell it all or keep a 49 per cent stake and give management of the brands. Such a deal wouldn't return a lot of cash, but it would lose the cost of making costly brands in the UK, one of the dearest places in the world to build cars."
Quote:
Originally Posted by solmanic
As usual, my favourite.
D. All of the above.
As a lotus enthusiast we were agast at Lotus being sold to Proton. Several years later the company is thriving. Let's hope this is the way for Landrover. :)
Wow - that's the point that editor bloke in the last AULROvian issue made.
He is one smart (****) isnt he !!!!
If the Indians do take it on why would you think anything would change?? They bought the Royal Enfield Motor cycle from the English years ago and have not changed a thing in the tooling. Years later the hings still leak oil (perhaps thats why they want the L/R) rattle and don't go over 80km.
On a sadder note I'm glad my pop is not around to see the fall of the Empire. First taken over by the Germans (don't mention the war, I did once but I think I got away with it) and now looks like being taken over by the heathens in the Colonies. The once mighty British Empire reduced to selling off the crown jewelles. It all started back in the late 40s just around the time they made the first L/R.............Ah ha perhaps we have found the cause of of the collapse, those ill handling, oil leaking, underpowered, loud cabin noise, heaters and air conds that don't work cars that we all love.................sigh............:)
I agree It does't matter who owns Land Rover so long as production is in the UK all TATA wants to do is learn how to make cars just like BMW wanted to learn how to make a 4wd