The boss of Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company, Tata Motors, has dismissed reports that it is looking to sell the British car firm, saying it is “committed” to its long-term growth.
Jaguar Land Rover has been hit by falling demand for saloons and diesel cars, along with declining sales in China, and posted a £90 million loss in the third quarter of 2018. It is about to embark on a £2.5 billion restructuring, which will reportedly include the loss of up to 5000 jobs.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Indian firm Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, has issued a statement in response to speculative stories about the future of the car maker, saying: “I would like to clarify that we remain committed to the long-term growth and success of JLR.”
He added: “JLR will continue to face global headwinds being experienced by the auto industry and, to address them, the management is taking the right steps to drive operational excellence, whilst continuing to invest in innovative products and technology to stay competitive globally. There is no truth to the rumours that Tata Motors is looking to divest our stake in JLR or discontinue the Jaguar brand.”
Chandrasekaran added that he had “great belief in the potential” of both JLR’s products and engineering, concluding: “I am confident that these inherent strengths, coupled with the focused efforts by the management to drive performance in the medium term by improving its operational leverage, will help JLR deliver consistent, competitive and cash accretive growth in the coming years.”
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iPace sales
Further to the previous comment regarding iPace sales, these amount to 2196 in Europe up to the end of October, and 165 in the USA in its first full month of sales in November.
The production ramp up rate seems quite slow. I have read that there were some software and headlamp issues, but not sure if that is true.
I was the first commentator
I was the first commentator on here to say that JLR will indeed be sold (due to the fact that it needs massive investment), when no one else was even mentioning it - and it will be. As I said, the reason is investment. Tata is being dragged down by JLR, and they won't allow that to continue. The management at JLR has been woeful - investing 'wrongly' and I expect a change of management in the new year. But the sale will happen - it's an economic certainty. It doesn't matter what you're manufacturing, you have to produce stuff people want. JLR has failed to produce a small 4x4, failed to keep the Freelander going, continually gone up-market with more (and VERY similar!) models, and abysmally failed to produce the new Defender - now thought to be some five years (FIVE YEARS!) beyond the demise of the old model. Add to that its laughable and bizarre cling to diesel, and you have the grotesque chaos it's now in. The iPace is good, but way over-priced, the new Evoque should do well, and if they price it right, the new Defender should sell well...but it's all too late. I still say, as I said months ago, that JLR will be sold - most likely to BMW or VW.
That bloke wrote:
that bloke....is talking through the hole. The Range Rover is best in class. Ditto the RR Sport. The new Evoque finally has the space to lure families into its glamour playground. The Velar has successfully carved a new niche. The forthcoming new Land Rover Defender will definitely attract those who love a G Class but can’t afford it.
As for diesel, name me a single European manufacturer that does not offer a diesel SUV?
You seem a very sad person, get a chill pill.
**YAWN** = More drivel from
**YAWN** = More drivel from those that have no idea what they are talking about, the entire point of moving Discovery to Slovakia was to make the UK plant an all electric plant, where all models required for the short and mid term will be built, the all new XJ and RR Electric will be built in the UK, end of, THE U K, there are also a lot of other models on the horizon, like at laeast a Dozen Defender's all UK built, a new F-Type and K-Type, both to build here and in one other plant, The Inidian plant will contiue to build DS and RRE, and a new #2 plant in China will boost build numbers for Asia.
JLR have nothing to worry about, they have spent heavily the last decade to completely refresh the entire model range and expand them all far beyond what they were at FORD, who incidentally had no idea, every brand they sold has made billions in profits since they sold them, Jag, LR, Volvo and Aston, but I digress = JLR are utilising plants where they can NOW, to take advantage fo those plants strengths, give it another couple of years and JLR will be coining it in, sales for E and I-Pace are doing rather well, the saloons are dipping, but then all brands saloons are, so nothing new.
Brexit has NO place here where JLR are concerned, and the Diesel engines they prodice are by far some of teh best there are, it is a shame that the brands do not get together and tell the governmets that Diesel is NOT as bad as they say it is, thats been proven this year with CO2 levels rising with the return to petrol sales and excessive extra use in power stations, with some now running at 100% compared to around 80%-85% 5 years ago (yes i do know what i am talking about - I work for the National Grid - Cadent, now owned by the Chinese, but thats a different conversation) - Just wait for 2025 and JLR will have an entirely new range of vehicles, all with Hybrid minimum.
jonboy4969 wrote:
I'm not sure sales of 700 iPace so far globally can be described as "doing rather well." Remember, the product was already delayed from when it was first promised for July delivery. Its not what I'd describe as an iPhone launch.
As I've said all along; you cant just arrive in the electric market delivering the same crappy service and product experience you did in your ICE days and expect the rest of the eco-system to just turn up.
I commented on the realities of the 35p for KWH and 50MPH charging rates which are todays reality, to which people said I was talking out of my backside.
Fortunately, it would seem - rightly - consumers are smart and have ignored the reviews in Autocar, which by their own Editors words are based entirely on their old model of reviewing vehicles. Consumers have realised its just not that simple and its a real shame for a longtime subscriber like myself to see journalists not recognising that times have changed and so should they. Todays car owners have been conditioned to think about total product experience from other categories of technology. Rating a car purely on handling and perceived quality is dead and 700 units sales prove that. Despite numerous front covers, interviews aplenty with Callum and raputorous words spanning far more pages that it ever deserved often hiding the realities of ownership - consumers have spoken.
JLR and the German car industry will continue to feel pain for 2019 and 2020 as the Model 3 arrives in mainland Europe and becomes the biggest selling premium vehicle in its segment. It should not surprise anyone if by mid-2020 its outselling traditional strong sellers like C-Class, 3-Series and Audi A4.