Fiat to join hands with Tatas for Jaguar, Land Rover

4 September, 2007

Italy's Fiat SpA may join the Tatas as a minority partner in the acquisition of Ford Motor's British brands Jaguar and Land Rover. It is rumored that the
Tatas have earmarked as much as $1.5 billion for the bid, while Fiat would join at a later stage.

It is a known fact that that the two companies already have a partnership under which Tata Motors distributes the Italian company's vehicles through
its showrooms in India.

Meanwhile, Mahindra and Mahindra is also reported to have started due diligence for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

The Tata bid came after chairman Ratan Tata had recently hinted that the group was keen on taking over Jaguar and Land Rover brands to push its expansion overseas. Reports added that Tata Motors could face competition from two former Ford executives who are reported to have joined hands with private equity firms for making separate bids.

Meanwhile, troubled auto maker Ford expects the sale of its two European brands to be completed latest by early 2008. Ford, which posted a loss of
$12.7 billion in 2006, has been looking to sell the two brands but has faced resistance from workers.