Congratulations Tata Motors

Yes this is now no longer a surprise ,Tata are the owners of the Landrover and jaguar brand its just moments away.Congratulations Tata,you have made us feel proud.

But now lets get back to reality.Remember every analyst/critic is against this buying decision of Tata.So what do they have to say.

The first and foremost thing is where is the synergy between Tata motors and Jaguar/Landrover.They are two complete extremities catering to a different set of clientele. Look at the premium brands of the japanese giants Honda/Toyota.Acura/Lexus brands have vehicles which essentially share platforms with vehicles from the parent company.So Tata motors needs to take advantage of the jaguar and Landrover platforms but would people accept expensive vehicles from Tata Motors.

Even on their own while the Landrover badge is not that bad,jaguar is struggling amongst its peers.Competition has left jaguar far behind and the target group of jaguar customers is not what any company would feel good about.Right now Jeremy Clarkson may be the only guy who would go and buy a Jaguar.Considering rising oil prices and green house emissions Landrover is the bad guy as far as environmentalists are concerned.So once again the two badges are not what they were once upon a time.

Cost cutting too is an area where Tata Motors will not have complete freedom since it would not be able lay off people,have to cater to pensions and most importantly depend on Ford motors for major components of the vehicle[Remember Ford will supply engines even after the sale].Outsourcing to India is also not an option.

Neither Jaguar nor Landrover are known for hybrids.So Tata would have to provide something to satisfy the environmentalists.But Tata right themselves do not have anything green to offer.Perhaps the air cars in future.

I don't see anything special that Tata have which manufacturers like BMW or Ford could not offer to resurrect the Landrover and Jaguar brands.

Lastly Tata motors themselves are struggling on their home turf with reducing sales and the ambitous project of the one lakh car which could be a strain on Tata Motors atleast for the immediate future.

Tata Motors is essentially now a complete automobile manufacture offering the cheapest of cars to luxury cars and SUV's as well as trucks and buses.But can Tata Motors remain the only exception and its not that others have not tried.The ones who tried have failed and have had to split the business and in some cases have had to hive off certain units.

All in all what I can say is I am with the analysts/critics in this case and am not too bullish on tata motors for the short term atleast[and by that I mean atleast 3-5 years].But then Tata motors always have this tendency to prove its critics wrong.The tagline impossible is nothing is more apt for Tata than addidas.