Tata unleashes the Big Cat, And also goes mud-plugging with elan

Adil Jal Darukhanawala, Editor-in-chief, ZigWheels.com   30 June 2009

Just under a year after Tata Motors acquired two of the world's most iconic British automotive brands, Indian premium car buyers (cum enthusiasts) be ready to shrug off your Teutonic fixation and attempt to go forth with top notch alternative engineering, craftsmanship and performance, both on and off road courtesy Jaguar and Land Rover.

To many it seems as if the Jaguar brand name was archaic and old world and probably this manifestation could have some germ of truth in it for the immediate decade after independence we did have Indian royalty and also rich enthusiasts bring in Jaguar two-seater sports cars and also some of their fast saloons. Yes even in Pune we had the awesome sight and sound of the classic XK120 and XK140 sports cars running to peak performance in the annual road races organized by the now defunct Deccan Motorcycle Sports Club (DMCSC) at the Lohegaon aerodrome. The Yuvraj Kumar of Gondal won many a race in his Jaguar XK120 and many others followed this all over the land.

Jaguar suffered dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s when the dubious amalgamation of the British automotive industry took its toll on many a brand. However, it managed to rescue itself from much harm by ignorant bureaucrats and got back on to a strong footing plus also getting back to its roots. This mini-renaissance of sorts promised much, so much so that Jac Nasser bought the company to become the cornerstone of Ford's much touted Premier Automotive Group (which in its heyday also included Aston Martin, Land Rover and Volvo).

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Jaguar/Land Rover Launch Special

Unbeknown to many, Ford invested heavily in Jaguar (and also Land Rover), especially in processes, systems, design and engineering. Jaguar was well on its way to doing the business when to save the parent company from a perilous situation in north America, Ford first sold off Aston Martin and then put both Jaguar and Land Rover on the market. Tata Motors was one of the most serious of the buyers and it picked up these two brands for what was a sum decidedly lower than what Ford had bought the two brands for, and more importantly far lower than what it had invested in them. It is a different thing that the present economic downturn caught Tata Motors on the hop but no one could have foreseen this when Ratan Tata and team went about acquiring these automotive gems.

I do remember interacting with Ratan Tata almost a decade and a half ago when Tata Motors was just getting into stride with its Sierra and Estate models to kick off its foray into automobiles. At that point in time itself he had said that he had a vision which was then a wish that it was better to go into the market with high profile models and brands and use them to establish the base of the pyramid models. Of course it never happened that way but if any one would care to understand, Tata Motors did the early spadework for Honda's advent into India (it almost went into a JV to make the Accord but the government played spoilsport). Tata Motors also helped Mercedes-Benz India get off the ground with the very first E-class series and just about a couple of years ago it tied up Fiat as its partner to share manufacturing and technology for a range of cars under both the Tata and Fiat brands.