JAG, Land Rover to be sold to Tata Motors

[LeMansX5]

Word comes from Europe that Tata Motors will officially announce its purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford on March 5 or 6. We've been following the matter closely, and it appears that the deal is closed as far as the executives at the two automotive companies are concerned. The final step involved Tata accepting Ford UK union Unite's guarantees for its workers.

"Everything seems fine as far as we are concerned; it's just the lawyers working on it now," said Roger Maddison, Unite's national officer, in an Automotive News Europe interview. Maddison was part of talks between the union leaders and Ford and Tata to finalize details of the sale and draw up a memorandum of understanding.

Earlier on in the negotiation process, unions wanted to ensure Tata would continue to source engines, stampings and other systems from Ford's Bridgend and Dagenham plants in the UK, which supply all of Jaguar and Land Rover engines and many of Land Rover's stampings.
The announcement isnít likely to happen at the Geneva Auto Show, scheduled to start at the beginning of March, as Ford does not wish to take any spotlight away from its launch of the new Ford Fiesta subcompact and would not comment on any specific dates. Insiders are saying the March dates are "not too far off track," according to Automotive News Europe.