From the BBC Website:
"Soaring sales of Jaguar and Land Rover cars have helped Indian firm Tata Motors to a huge rise in profits, the firm has announced.

In the three months to December 31, profits rose 41% compared with 2010 to 34.1bn rupees ($692m; £441m), with sales up 44% to 453bn rupees.

Its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) arm saw sales rise 37%, helped by selling 32,000 of its new Range Rover Evoque.

The quarter saw China overtake the UK as JLR's biggest market.

China now accounts for 17.2% of total sales compared with 16.5% for the UK.

Over the same period, the JLR business had a profit of £440m, up 57% from a year earlier.

Tata's chief financial officer CR Ramakrishnan said strong sales at Jaguar Land Rover reflected changes to the product and marketing mix.

He also cited the increasing demand for the firm's products in Russia and China, which accounted for sales of 22.4% in the quarter.

However, the firm's profit within India fell by more than half to 1.74bn rupees, which the firm blamed on an increased marketing spend and the soaring cost of raw materials.

Tata bought Jaguar Land Rover in 2008 from Ford for $2.3bn and has been credited with establishing each marque as a global brand." Upgraded to an ex demo, 7 mth old, Rimini Red/Ebony Napoli Auto HSE on 28th Jan 2011, added roof rails, mudflaps and side strips.
Gone - A great 57 Plate, Auto SE, Bought Feb 2009, Roof Rails and Mudflaps added on purchase. Blue colour, anything but drug dealer black.....

Profits that help JLR to move in the right direction for sustainable investment in its new model development programme(s) that will see both model updates and completely new models introduced at a frequency that matches the best programmes of its chief rivals and not always as in the past playing "catch-up".

For Jaguar that means overtaking the Germans: BMW, Audi and Mercedes - and for Land Rover that means almost everyone that produces 4x4's in any class.

Wishful thinking or achievable objectives - only time will see if the boys at Tata JLR can strategically use those profits wisely or throw them away in boardroom bonuses.

athelstan wrote:

For Jaguar that means overtaking the Germans: BMW, Audi and Mercedes - and for Land Rover that means almost everyone that produces 4x4's in any class.

Wishful thinking or achievable objectives - only time will see if the boys at Tata JLR can strategically use those profits wisely or throw them away in bedroom bonuses.

Wishfull thinking indeed if anybody except a brit could ever think that Jaguar could overtake BMW. Audi and Mercedes however should be up for takes
LR on the other hand have every possibility to be leaders with their new thinking, but only in the exclusive class of vehicles  2007 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Manual with Premium Pack & Moonroof.
Stornoway Grey with Ebony Black Pleather, Clear Indicators, Body Side Mouldings etc.

AndyC wrote:

Wishfull thinking indeed if anybody except a brit could ever think that Jaguar could overtake BMW.

athelstan wrote:

[Doesn't matter what line of business you are in - if you're a competitor you can be overhauled regardless of your current market status. No business, whatever field they are in, is immune to another (present or future) doing it better and knocking the current leader off their perch. All it takes is ambition, investment and the right team.

AndyC wrote:

Sorry to disagree, but if Jaguar were ever to really try and compete with BMW, they would bankrupt themselves. In addition I do not think that the Jaguar designers understand where the market is going, unlike BMW that have an excellent range of models and production plants statically placed to supply those markets. I guess that Jaguar will remain a specialist vehicle primarily for the British market but with a small export margin as it is today.

Quite right Athelstan. BMW, VW Audi Group and Mercedes Benz, the sectors JLR competes against all have a fundamental failing. Thier holding co's are not diversified in the right areas. For example, do any of the previous own steel plants. The way JLR is now set up I think they can do it with a high degree of safety as well. Ratan Tatas decision to buy when he did I think was a masterpiece of out manouvering the industry. I think, if JLR can sustain what they currently do and return profits that on a like for like basis challenge the mainland European competitors, then they ought to be seriously worried.
The big thing though the word "sustain" and that ain't as easy!

Seems somebody is still living in the past when Jaguar was Jaguar and an excellent quality vehicle and one which as a youngster, I deamed of owning one day. Unfortunatly that is not the situation today whether you like it of not, and as Jaguar has been thrown arround by Ford and the likes and now is owned by a company devoted to producing ecconomical vehicles and in reality no longer British. Where as, BMW is still BMW and well established. On a recent visit to Cape Town, I noted along with all the RR's, Ferraris amd Lambo's etc. also hundreds of BMW's and Merc's in the "lower price bracket range", but only 1 Jaguar and several LR's. As was mentioned earlier, Jaguar overtaking BMW is wishful thinking and more likely to be sold on by Mr. Tata once he has sqeezed then for knowlege. 2007 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Manual with Premium Pack & Moonroof.
Stornoway Grey with Ebony Black Pleather, Clear Indicators, Body Side Mouldings etc.

AndyC wrote:

On a recent visit to Cape Town, I noted along with all the RR's, Ferraris amd Lambo's etc. also hundreds of BMW's and Merc's in the "lower price bracket range

By that time, Jaguar's reputation for unreliability, expensive, and poor customer support had truly placed the brand at the bottom of the "wish" list

I think that says it all really. What's the problem with Tata being Indian? JLR's bad reputation came whilst it was British. We happily went along for years considering Zodiacs, Crestas, Cortinas, Victors, Fiestas, Astras and the like coming from Ford or Vauxhall as "English" cars 'cos they were made here and provided good quality employment for us. The important things are the level of investment and the commitment to continuity.

Once the quality and perceived value of the product is up to scratch then reputation can be regained. Just look at what happened to Skoda. From inter-war luxury manufacturer to 1960/70/80 joke manufacturer and now back to good quality and value engineering thanks to VW's ownership and commitment. If they made a diesel automatic Yeti it would give the Freelander a very hard time in my view.

The sky's the limit for any manufacturer who makes what the customer wants at a price the customer will pay. Doesn't matter what the product is, the rules are the same.[/b] Ours - 2008 Stornoway Grey HSE Auto
Tricia's - 2006 Royal Blue Beetle Cabriolet Auto
Mine - 2014 Vespa GTS 300 Super Sport Matt Black
Ours - 2007 White Bailey Pageant Champagne

Last edited by rjc1944 on 18th Feb 2012 10:10 am. Edited 1 time in total

AndyC wrote:

Seems somebody is still living in the past when Jaguar was Jaguar and an excellent quality vehicle and one which as a youngster, I deamed of owning one day.

AndyC wrote:

Seems somebody is still living in the past when Jaguar was Jaguar and an excellent quality vehicle and one which as a youngster, I deamed of owning one day. Unfortunatly that is not the situation today whether you like it of not, and as Jaguar has been thrown arround by Ford and the likes and now is owned by a company devoted to producing ecconomical vehicles and in reality no longer British. Where as, BMW is still BMW and well established. On a recent visit to Cape Town, I noted along with all the RR's, Ferraris amd Lambo's etc. also hundreds of BMW's and Merc's in the "lower price bracket range", but only 1 Jaguar and several LR's. As was mentioned earlier, Jaguar overtaking BMW is wishful thinking and more likely to be sold on by Mr. Tata once he has sqeezed then for knowlege.

heliosuk wrote:

Of course things might be different in Norway. I THINK THINK didn't go down too well!!!