Shares of Jaguar-Land Rover’s parent company, Tata Motors, rose to their highest level in almost 19 years after the company posted first quarter profits on strong demand for luxury SUVs and sedans. Tata made 19.9 billion rupees ($430 million) in the three months ending June, compared to a 3.3 billion ($71.26 million) lost last year. Tata Motors attributed the good news to the rebound in luxury vehicle sales.
Preparing for rising sales, chairman Ratan Tata, who is set to retire in 2012, wants to open Land Rover factories in India and China to pacify demand. This was confirmed by JLR CEO Carl-Peter Forster who said that Land Rovers will be assembled in India starting next year. Talks on producing Land Rover and Jaguar models on a JV basis with a partner in China is ongoing.
Jaguar-Land Rover is back into the black with a net income of 221 million GBP ($348 million) in the most recent quarter, a stark contrast to the same time last year, when it lost 64 million GBP ($101.6 million). In the period, JLR sold 57,153 vehicles, more than the 35,947 in 2009. Future plans for the leaping cat include the introduction of an XF estate (see Theophilus Chin’s version here) and a new entry level roadster.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
time for proton who owned lotus to learn….
=)
Sounds like TATA has its ways to make things turn around! Wow, that is nothing short of impressive! I wonder if the guys in Ford HQ would start to regret the decision of selling off Jaguar and Land Rover or not now……
The way I see it, British car companies, Jaguar & Land Rover included, did not have cheap manufacturing base to compete with other car makers when the EC market was made open. VW did this by buying skoda etc. Fiat consolidated. Peugeout/Citroen merged and rescued by their government.
British companies, being small and competing in a crowded market, could not keep up. Ford, being in their own problem a while ago, did not need Jaguar and Land Rover to bring them further.
When TATA bought them over, they now have the same ‘cheap’ manufacturing base that Ford couldn’t provide.
In hindsight, maybe Ford could have used their factory in the Philipines. ;-)
Ratan’s new seed ripe fruit early it seems.
wow with in like 2 years,from zero to hero…i really hope the jag roadster which was a concept goes into production..
Why Englishmen can’t manage their car business ?
Too nostalgic, too set in the old ways, too expensive & uncompetitive, too many small manufacturers who competed against each other rather than consolidate. At a time when Britain was still repaying USA for it’s WW2 loan (the last repayment only finished a few years ago). Many skilled engineers emigrated to US for a better life.
(Except for the high end marque like Jaguar & Rolls Royce) The build quality were crap to say the least. Quality control was inconsistent. Engines were guzzlers & not economical. Luckily, they were bullet proof (ie. dont break down often as mechanically sound) but were not the technological leader of the time.
Labour Unions were so strong that a strike can be called anytime at whim & fancy. Labour cost was increasing at the same time, inflation & poor economy was also rising.
The same can be said for it’s aerospace industry. From being a leader in aeronautical in the early 20th century to being a small player in the 21st century. Only Rolls Royce (jet engine) survived but then they too had to be rescued by the Gov in the 70’s. Luckily, RR Trend 1000 engine is now the class leader, powering the B787 Dreamliner.
Watch the last episode of this season’s TopGear & see how the British car industry failed (S15E06)
britain is now a disgrace
Nothing disgraceful. Britain’s national dish is chicken tikka masala anyway. :-)
lol!
Tata may regret opening a factory in China since the Chinese labourers are starting to show demand in salary pays. maybe not in the beginning but once they start to strike, the factory may come down on its knees.
better set up in malaysia instead.
just frustrate the Sino factory workers, soon they will be committing suicide like at FoxConn. There’s more than a billion Chinese, they won’t miss few thousands dead.
same as Malaysian cannot seem to manage or make its car business profitable. At least, the Englishmen marque have made a mark in the automobile world, where is Proton?
the mark was made yearsssssss before malaysia exist…
and proton mark was on the way… like satria neo s2000, the emas concept…
but as usual, it is its Malaysians itself condemning and erasing the mark…
s2000, a marque? Are you drunk. It’s only achievement is to overtake an entry level chopper lol. Emas? with fake buttons and hardly a working model is a mark? been drinking before writing have you?