Its official. Jaguar's sold.

**Jesda** · #1 (**permalink**) 03-26-08, 12:00 PM

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the world's third- largest automaker, agreed to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors Ltd. for less than half what it paid for the two brands as luxury-vehicle demand drops.

Tata, India's biggest truckmaker, will spend $2.3 billion, while Ford will contribute about $600 million at closing to the Jaguar Land Rover pension funds, the companies said today.

Ford is ending its investment in U.K.-based brands as the U.S. housing slump and job losses curb sales of models such as the $80,000 Jaguar XK. Ford is working to return to profit next year after $15.3 billion in losses in 2006 and 2007.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/...=home

Without money-making Land Rover to sweeten the deal, it would have been impossible for Ford to dump the cat.

71goldie · #2 (**permalink**) 03-26-08, 12:54 PM

Man, Range Rovers better stay nice... I love range rovers.

**I~LUV~Caddys8792** · #3 (**permalink**) 03-26-08, 01:24 PM

That's sorta depressing and strange.

Destroyer · #4 (**permalink**) 03-26-08, 02:58 PM

Remember I posted pics of the Tata?. The lowest priced car on the planet?. Now whose laughing?.

Ta-ta Jaguar!. Its ashame, the last decade saw many a nice Jaguar hitting the streets.

**Florian** · #5 (**permalink**) 03-26-08, 03:03 PM

If you buy 2, will you have a nice set of TaTa's?

F

SvB4EvA · #6 (**permalink**) 03-26-08, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Florian

If you buy 2, will you have a nice set of TaTa's?

F

dkozloski · #7 (**permalink**) 03-26-08, 03:22 PM

India, where obsolete old British crap goes to linger and die. Royal Enfield pioneered the process.

orconn · #8 (**permalink**) 03-26-08, 04:02 PM

Let's face it, Jaguar lost it uniquesness as a specialty, luxury car manufacturer after Sir William Lyons left the helm back in the 1970's. The cars designed during his reign really were something special; setting a world standard of beauty and speed (if not quality build) at an originally affordable price. As the company went forward from the early seventies it was challenged by better and better cars from Europe ...... and then Japan. Jaguar tried to upgrade its' aging XJ six models but it was a loosing battle. The truth of the matter was that each so-called refinement of a Lyons design detracted from the original's beauty and uniqueness. When they finally got their quality under control their cars were no longer setting style nor engineering benchmarks and had become nothing more than, as had their compatriot Roll Royce, than nice "furniture" not much of an automobile anymore.

I've owned seven Jags in my lifetime the XK 150, E-types, and first XJ6s all were unique in their time and marketplace. The last two I had were nothing more than British style leather and wood interiors (and not very ergometrically sorted out at that, by contemporary standards at that) in antiquated bodies whose charm was had been face lifted to death.

Ford has never been very good at luxury cars ........ yes, they were the Mk I and II Continentals and the early 60's small Continental ....... but every time I have tried a Lincoln it always came across as a gussied up Ford.

I think Koz is right, perhaps it is best that Jaguar go to the La Brea Tar Pit of British engineering!