Click to play videoLondon: India Inc. has celebrated Tata's acquisition of the Jaguar and Land Rover, but what do the British think of the sale of their precious icons to an Indian company?
There have been some whisperings in British circles, and not very happy ones at that, about the new Indian ownership of the company.
“Napoleon was right, this is a country of traders and shopkeepers. And as long as somebody buys their assets and makes something good out of it, as long as there are jobs, the British don't mind. I was saying somewhere, if somebody came with an offer for the royalty, the British would sell it,” member of the House of Lords, Lord Meghnad Desai said.
And the British sense of loss over the sale is quite evident. “There have been noises that this is an Indian company coming into British territory to purchase what is part of our heritage. I think there is a sense that we are, as a country, selling another important brand to another country. However, what is important is where this country is based, where the cars are based,” Motoring Editor of Auto Express, Dan Strong said.
But whoever owns the company, these cars will always be British, and for the foreseeable future, made in Britain.
“I don't think Tata could move all production out of UK and still have British brands. They could have British brands made in UK and some production overseas as well so long as the core brand is still seen as British,” Managing Director of Spyder Redspy Ltd, Jay Nagley said.
Meanwhile, many others say that the cars were so saleable because they had a British stamp on them.
“I think Tata would not have bought Jaguar and Land Rover if they were not such emotional products. I think the fact that they are so British, and they have this tremendous reputation made them valuable enough for Tata to be interested in investing the money in the first place,” Strong explained. And it is believed that Tata, too, wants the cars to go on looking British.
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