Jaguar and Land Rover shift

Access to technology and engineering takes center stage as the two brands transition from one giant parent to another as Tata takes over from Ford.

On the grand scale of international and global companies, Jaguar (60,485 global sales last year) and Land Rover (226,395) sit comfortably between high-volume OEMs and small niche players. Now in the transitional phase of their change of ownership from Ford to Tata, their prospects are looking distinctly bright.

The basic elements of what drives them is not likely to shift through radical change, although it will be some time before the precise structure of their operations becomes clear. But Tata cannot offer a level of specialist technological research and development support and expertise similar to that of Ford. When they were part of Ford, both Jaguar and Land Rover worked closely with the company's research facility in Aachen, Germany, particularly on diesel engine development, and with Dearborn, MI, on gasoline systems. There may still be links on a consultancy basis, but details have not been confirmed.