WORKERS at Britain's Jaguar and Land Rover factories yesterday welcomed the £1.15 billion takeover by Indian motoring manufacturer Tata Motors.
Thousands of UK jobs were safeguarded following the deal when the ownership of the two marques was passed from the hands of US car giant Ford.
In a deal due to be completed by the end of June, Tata will pay £2.3bn in cash for Jaguar Land Rover (JL
R).
Ford will then contribute up to about $600 million (£300m) to the JLR pension plans.
The deal, negotiated over many months, will also result in Ford continuing to supply components to JLR as well as other support services.
Ford will also provide financing for JLR dealers for up to 12 months.
The deal involves around 13,500 employees in the UK and covers plants at Solihull in the West Midlands, Castle Bromwich near Birmingham and Halewood on Merseyside.
There had been fears that there could be job losses when Ford said it wanted to sell JLR.
But both Ford and Tata – which owns other companies including steelmaker Corus and Tetley Tea – said they did not anticipate any significant changes to JLR employees' terms of employment on completion.
Among those arriving to start the evening shift at Halewood yesterday, the mood was positive.
Peter Kirk, 31, a production operative, said: "Tata has said he will honour Jaguar's five-year plan for this place, which is great news in the short term. I think the real test will come in 2009-10 when the wage negotiations are taking place. Then we'll know what his long-term plan is."
Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners, said the acquisition was unlikely to affect the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
He said: "Those that may be looking at this purchase by the Indians believing that at some point the brands will be shipped off to India, lock, stock and barrel, just as the Chinese did with the sad remains of Rover, are surely missing the point.
"Forget who will own it, the point is that whoever does Land Rover can surely never be anything else but British. And while the Jaguar brand has been tarnished in UK and, to a lesser extent, US markets, these still remain hugely important markets for the new owner."
Announcing the deal, Ford Motor Company's president and chief executive, Alan Mulally, said: "Jaguar and Land Rover are terrific brands.
"We are confident that they are leaving our fold with the products, plan and team to continue to thrive under Tata's stewardship."
Tata Motors' chairman Ratan Tata said: "We are very pleased at the prospect of Jaguar and Land Rover being a significant part of our automotive business. We have enormous respect for the two brands and will endeavour to preserve and build on their heritage and competitiveness, keeping their identities intact.
"We aim to support their growth, while holding true to our principles of allowing the management and employees to bring their experience and expertise to bear on the growth of the business."
The full article contains 513 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
