Tata seen making big technical leap with Jaguar purchase
India's Tata Motors, named preferred bidder to buy Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover units, could make a huge technological leap and save years of development by acquiring the car icons, analysts said Friday.
The ailing US automaker announced on Thursday it had entered "detailed talks" with Tata Motors, part of India's sprawling tea-to-steel Tata Group, for the sale of the luxury marques.
"From a technology point of view and given the Tatas' global ambitions, this purchase would make a lot of sense," said Chirag Shah, research analyst at Mumbai's Emkay Securities.
"If they (Tata Motors) want to move into the league of the VWs and the Audis, they need to make these kinds of investments," Shah said.
"They -- in fact the Indian auto players -- don't have the technological capacity right now to match these global companies. They would be saving a lot of time and money by acquiring these brands."
If the Tatas drives off with Jaguar and Land Rover, it would be another feather in the family-run group's cap after the purchase of European steelmaker Corus early last year for 13.7 billion dollars.
It would also be another sign that cash-flush corporate India's foreign acquisition drive has shifted into high gear.
Tata's chief executive Ratan Tata, a 70-year-old credited with transforming the group into a global player, had long promised the conglomerate would "spread its wings far beyond India."
Tata said separately in a statement it hoped the transaction could be completed in the coming weeks but added the talks would be complex.
Reports have said the offers put forward so far range from 1.5 to 2.0 billion dollars (1.0-1.4 billion euros).
Tata urgently needs to develop new technology to fend off competition from foreign carmakers such as Ford, General Motors and Renault which have invested heavily in plants in India to compete in the fast-growing domestic market.
Tata Motors, India's largest truckmaker, started manufacturing cars nine years ago when its Indica hatchback rolled off assembly lines. It has been the only car the company has designed so far -- all its other models being based on the Indica.
Tata Motors' shares were up 3.75 points or 0.47 percent at 798 in early afternoon trade Friday following Ford's announcement.
Analysts say Tata would be buying Jaguar and Land Rover just at a time when the large investments by Ford to turn around the brands are paying dividends.
"They would be buying in at the right time," said Hormuz Sorabjee, editor of leading Indian car magazine Autocar.
"Jaguar has a lot in the pipeline that's interesting," he said.
The acquisition "would represent a huge leap ahead in terms of product and product is king in this business," he said.
Analysts noted Land Rover now is making money and that Jaguar is expected to break even.
"Ford paid five to seven billion dollars for the companies depending on how you do the conversion and adjusted for inflation. And it has pumped in 10 billion dollars more in trying to turn the brands around," said Shah.
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