In 2008, Ford started to sell everything under its brand. Land Rover and Jaguar were one of the toughest sales at that time. As the Land Rover was very profitable, Jaguar was losing blood all the time and no body was looking forward to buy Jaguar! However, Ford packages them together as a promotion and whoever buys Land Rover was going to have Jaguar free!At the same time, Tata was looking for automotive brands to expands its automotive division. However they were reluctant to buy Jaguar as you can imagine the reason! Tata decided to buy Jaguar and Land Rover after they see the potential demand on Jaguar XF model which was introduced before the deal.
Now, Tata decided to move Land Rover and Jaguar production plants to China. And it will be the second foreign brand to be built in China after Volvo. However, unlike in any other business product of origin play significant role in luxury automotive industry. And mainly Land Rover was using this as an important asset to compete with Germans. After this decision, Land Rover and Jaguar's reputation might be adversely affected. Also in Chinese market, it may not receive the same demand as the brands are produced in China!It is a very complicated decision to make. And I can see why Tata is trying to move it production plant outside of UK, but they should focus on East European countries to minimize the damage on product of origin. Producing Land Rover and Jaguar in China and selling to China may not have the same impact as exporting from UK.
Pictures are taken from;
Land Rover, Jaguar Websites
