Tata & Jaguar Land Rover - Culture and Strategy

For any colleagues and students researching the Tata Group takeover of Jaguar Land Rover in 2008 - this is a must-watch video interview. In fact, it has broader relevance to anyone wanting a concrete example of how to respect the culture of a takeover target as part of a long-term plan to increase shareholder value.

Here is the link to the interview with the Managing Director of Tata Motors just a day or two after they completed the acquisition from Ford. The early part of the interview is particularly good; I like the background sound of honking car horns which gives a clue as to where it was filmed!

Some key points I jotted down included:

1. Tata aiming to turnaround Jaguar (it was heavily loss-making under Ford’s ownership)
   
2. Commited to management’s existing business plan for the next 4-5 years
   
3. Business planning will continue to be long-term, but as with any business plan, the plan will need to be flexible
   
4. Tata had experience of a previous takeover in the motor industry when it took over Daewoo Trucks in Korea where they learned about the challenges of embracing the culture of the takeover target
   
5. Wants to operate JLR as a British company
   
6. “Ownership is not about taking over a culture” (a classic quote which I’m expecting quite a few AQA BUSS4 students to use in their essays!)
   
7. JLR to be kept independent, although set challenging targets
   
8. Commitment to the significant cost & risk of investing in new car models