Tata and the rise of Jaguar Land Rover

The Tata takeover of Jaguar Land Rover (“JLR”) in 2008 is one of our five “must research” deals for the AQA BUSS4 research theme in 2012. And this recent article provides students with some compelling evidence about how successful the takeover has been for Tata, the private Indian conglomerate that is now the UK’s largest manufacturer. The Telegraph reports that JLR made record pre-tax profits of £559m in the final three months of 2011 as demand for its premium cars soared in Asia. This follows on from JLR’s record profits of £1.1bn in 2010.

The key drivers for JLR’s improved performance include:

- Rapid growth in demand from emerging markets, particularly China which has now overtaken the UK as JLR’s largest market
- The impact of new model development (much of which was funded by the previous owner Ford) - e.g. the Range Rover Evoque
- A successful takeover integration process (a model for other takeovers?) which focused on stability and continuity (a so-called “softly-softly” approach)

Background:

This video features an interview with Tata management at the time of the JLR takeover

This Midlands Today video (3 minutes) provides a nice overview of JLR’s new owner:

For a much more detailed analysis of the takeover back in 2007, watch this detailed 20 minute video: