Guys, any news on the acquiring by Tata? How is that going to affect the current models, as our FL2 are using the Ford engines?
I am not familiar on how the fixing or upgrading of engine parts works, my guess is that any fix up to now was coming from Ford as
the same engine is used for the volvos.

F/L2s Diesel engine is a Peugeot unit and the Petrol a Volvo and I suppose business is business, nobody will wish to stop selling and loose the profit. As I've noted before Land Rover have had a history of buying engines from others ie BMW, VM and on a wider front I dont suppose Ford will wish to stop supplying into Disco3, RRS & RR, after all their long term plans did not include Ford USA selling their customer. still pining for my 3dr, no removeable hardtop, no drop glass tailgate, no roof rack, no pockets everywhere to stow all that man kit

Yep tata close to take over. Ford will supply engines for lr2. Probably not for lr3 though. Lr2 got seven years left before replacement. Don't worry too much Live your life be free-lander

I am Horrified at the thought.
LR is a British institution (ok owned by Ford but somehow Ford is as British as it is American) and would be destroyed if the Indians got hold of it. They only want it for the same reason the Chinese do. To strip it and steal the ideas. They are copyers, not innovaters and will cheapen the whole brand.

I never buy products for where they are made but was chuffed to realise that I'd actually bought British and not because of its origins, but because it was the best on the market.
LR2Maker - do you build them? If so, can you pass my thanks to your collegues for a fantastic product, well made and the equal to anything our German friends can do (says a Merc owner who has run Audis and BMWs over the years).

I hate to say it and hope I am wrong, but I believe Tata will close Halewood and ship the production lines to India, where an unskilled assembly worker will throw them together for 1/10th of the cost of a Scouser (why wouldn't they?). They will be poorly made and the brand destroyed as a result, not to mention the tragedy of closing Halewood. They've already destroyed the UK IT industry with cheap inferior product and deception masquerading as professionalism (I've dealt with TATA since 1998 so know them well), now they start on what's left of our car industry.

I desparately hope the sale falls through. Ford are Mad. LR (and Jaguar for that matter) has one of the best product line ups for 2 generations. They should enjoy the fruits of their labour, not throw it to the wolves. 07 Freelander 2 TD4SE Tambora Flame, side steps, privacy glass, mud flaps, boot liner and a tow bar. Ok it's the Wifes but she lets me drive it occasionally - if I've been good!

Everybody can have there worries about the TATA takeover

But to spend this sort of money on the purchase then ruin it by making them in India would be commercial suicide

I personally don't think they will change anything that will make them less of a flagship company


Tetely Tea doesn't taste any different since they bought them Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

According to Land Rover Monthly magazine, Ford has announced that TATA is now the only bidder for Jaguar and Land Rover and it seems that the terms will include a 5 year period during which TATA cannot close any of the Jaguar or Land Rover plants, safeguarding jobs at Halewood and Solihull in the mid-term.

What happens after 5 years is anyones guess  ______________________
2011 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8
2012 FL2 SD4 Auto HSE
2013 Kawasaki Versys 650

I broadly agree with Npinks. It's too easy to rubbish Tata. Much of our experience of them is based on outsourcing IT work from the UK to India in the hope of reduced expenditure. In many cases this was not fully realised, or the end result not as intended, due to our failure to work collaboratively across continents. Dare I say that this was sometimes caused by disgruntled or ineffective UK project leaders, worried about their own jobs!

As for skills in Tata, I think you'll find they have a whole lot more graduate qualified employees than most UK companies. Let's not worry prematurely eh! Life is not a dress rehearsal!

Just had a looked at Fords full year results and exec statements. Looks like L/R/Jag made $500million profit and Jag just launching a highly acclaimed new product which must have cost zillions to develop. To sell all of that for $2bn much speak a barrow load for Fords overall position. Looks like Tata are getting a bargain to me, pity nobody in the UK saw the opportunity. still pining for my 3dr, no removeable hardtop, no drop glass tailgate, no roof rack, no pockets everywhere to stow all that man kit

Nick Jan wrote:

I broadly agree with Npinks. It's too easy to rubbish Tata. Much of our experience of them is based on outsourcing IT work from the UK to India in the hope of reduced expenditure. In many cases this was not fully realised, or the end result not as intended, due to our failure to work collaboratively across continents. Dare I say that this was sometimes caused by disgruntled or ineffective UK project leaders, worried about their own jobs!

As for skills in Tata, I think you'll find they have a whole lot more graduate qualified employees than most UK companies. Let's not worry prematurely eh!

"terms will include a 5 year period during which TATA cannot close any of the Jaguar or Land Rover plan"

Even if the above statement is true, that does not mean much,
What interest me at the moment, is not how many new FL2's will go out in the market but the improvements and the quick response
in fixes (support) of the cars that out there. So, is Tata going to shift focus totally on sales, without caring for the quality? Personally I believe that they are going to reduce the quality assurance and research and support, and focus on production.
Also, for sure, in a takeover of this size, top people in the company in one way or another leave the company. Are they going to be replace by locals?

vafree2 wrote:

Personally I believe that they are going to reduce the quality assurance and research and support, and focus on production.

Interesting discussion. But why so negative?
Ratan Tata is a very intelligent man and an even better business man. Every one who has been in India lately may have noticed the increasing middle class which was non-existent a decade ago.
India has the most millionaires (in USD terms) in the world, and besides assembling the Mercedes E-Class by Tata in India, India needs its own premium car. By aquiring Jaguar and Landrover Tata has made a very clever chess-move in the future - in my humble opinion also for Jag & LR!
The TATA group is financially sound, they are well established, and Jag & LR will probably have sound future with this owner. Tata would be badly advised if he would close down Halewood. What he may do is to set-up a production or assembley facility in India to be able to serve the huge Indian market . Tata is known to be a strategic mind, and under his leadership Jag & LR may flourish including technical development.
But we will see....!

P.S. Mercedes Benz owns 7% of the Tata shares. So technical development of Tata's automotive section may be driven by this engagement.
P.P.S. Anyone who has been in a Tata-car in India (and there are millions on the roads) will be surprised of the good quality such cars represent. No rattles, good engines (mainly own diesel) and even the design is ok.
So I think that Tata knows very well what quality means.
YF

When the choice of new cars is so fantastic and it is very hard to decide which car to buy I would be inclined not to buy a Land Rover in the future if it was owned by TATA.As usual Ford are making the wrong decision by losing a money making brand just to offload Jaguar.The new xf is car of the year and looks to be a success so why sell now?Make the right cars and they will sell-look at Land Rover pre Discovery compared to now! Stornaway grey SE auto with 18" alloys