Started initially as a Bicycle manufacturer in 1885 in England to create a Sports utility vehicle manufacturing JLR Motors has come a long way. Currently, Land Rover is owned by Indian company Tata Motors. So let’s look at the history of Land Rover Motors and how an Indian company owned it?. So, today’s topic- Who owns Land Rover?
Tata Industries
It started as a trading company in 1868 by Jamshed Ji Tata, later being one of India’s biggest and oldest industries; from producing Steel to Tea, Tata industries have many subsidiaries, and Tata Motors is one of them.
Tata Motors History
Tata Motors is one of the oldest Automotive companies started in 1998 by Ratan Tata, started initially most prominent as a Locomotive manufacturer then Manufacturing commercial vehicles. Tata Motors launched Indica as their first passenger vehicle, which was a massive success for the company; Tata motors started to increase. Some of the highest selling cars for Tata motors were-
- Tata Sierra
- Tata Safari
- Tata Indica
- Tata Sumo
- Tata Harrier
- Tata Nexon(one of the highest-selling and safest cars in India)
(Tata Motors also has recorded for creating the most inexpensive car “Nano” rear engine hatchback with a dual cylinder engine having 625 ccs and 38 ps of power)
These are some of the Cars which helped the company to build a vast empire in the country
JLR History
- 1947: Rover Company Chairman Maurice Wilks designs the first Land Rover model, built on a Jeep axle and chassis.
- April 30, 1948: The first Land Rover officially debuts at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
- 1967: Rover Company becomes Rover Triumph, as part of Leyland Motors (later British Leyland Motors).
- 1978: Land Rover Limited becomes its own company under British Leyland Motors, 30 years after creating the first Land Rover model.
- 1994: The Rover Group acquire by BMW.
- 2000: The Rover Group broke up by BMW, and Land Rover sold to Ford.
- 2008: Tata Motors based in India purchases Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford
Relationship with JLR
Land Rover has seen much ownership most prominent, from British Leyland in 1978 to BMW Group 1994 to Ford Motors in 2000, purchased by Tata motors in 2008 as a whole subsidiary.
- Tata Motors– Tata motors purchased both companies Jaguar and Land Rover as one major company with Bidding in competition with Mahindra&Mahindra(Indian automotive company). It cost them a substantial 1.7B$
- Currently, JLR is working as a British Entity and producing Jaguar and Land Rover, Range Rover in 5 Countries.
- Land Rover also works for the Australian and British Military, providing heavy-duty Machines capable of roaming anywhere from sand to climbing on steep surfaces.
- Currently, the company is also working on Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Tata Motors and Ford Motors
It should call Ratan Tata v/s Ford because in 1999 when Tata Motors was in Huge financial trouble, they reached out to Ford, Ford motors were interested in purchasing the company, but Bill Ford, the chairman of the company, humiliated Tata by saying we’re doing favors on you by buying Vehicle division of Tata, This is what after Ratan Tata canceled the deal and returned to India, nine years after Ford was at bankruptcy this is where Tata showed up and bought JLR from Ford, and turned it into a successful venture.
Manufacturing & Business
JLR Motors have their Manufacturing plant in 5 countries where Jaguar and Land Rovers manufactured
-Pune, India -Liverpool, UK -Slovakia -Brazil -China(in partnership with cherry)
Currently produced Land Rovers and Jaguars
Range Rover
- Range Rover Evoque- Introduced in 2011
- Defender- Introduced in 2019
- Range Rover Sport and Velar- Introduced in 2005 and 2017
- Range Rover Discovery- Introduced in 1989, one of the oldest and highest-selling Range Rover to date, Comes with an additional model Range Rover Discovery Sport
Jaguar
- Jaguar XE- Introduced in 2015
- Jaguar XF-Introduced in 2007
- Jaguar F Type- Introduced in 2013
- Jaguar F Pace- Introduced in 2015
- Jaguar I Pace- Introduced in 2021 as an Electric Alternative
Business Ideas and Upcoming Plans
In 2019 the company stated that they are in full swing for Electrification for Both Jaguar and Range Rover. From the year 2020, only electric models will produce, giving competition to the current biggest electric manufacturer Tesla Motors and Porsche.
Why Electrification of Cars?
Most companies are looking forward to electric cars as they are easy to manufacture, and they don’t have to deal with emission norms which caused considerable problems to VW Group in recent years. And Electric market is currently new to everyone and has enormous potential many startups like Lucid Air have taken this seriously and manufacturing low-cost EV’s.
And one of the biggest reasons is governments are giving tax reduction for companies and the buyer which make it more exciting and maintenance cost is very very low compared to traditional Cars.
Current Electric Competitors World Wide
- Tesla Motors- Model S, Model 3(cheapest Tesla), Model X, Model Y(Direct competitor to Land Rover as it is an SUV)
- General Motors- Chevrolet Bolt
- Tata Motors- Nexon EV(Cheapest EV)
- Porsche- Porsche Taycan (2nd fastest EV after Tesla S Plaid)
- Ford- Mustang Mach-E and Ford F-150 Lightning
- Hyundai- Kona
Business and Income
Few years were awful for JLR as dropped the sales, which makes a great extent which mainly caused Ford Motors to sell JLR to Tata Motors still the company is in Huge Debt. But it is picking up pace from mid-2019 company faced a loss of 395 million and a profit of 156 million, Tata Motors was also looking for a joint-venture in JLR.
Current sales of JLR Combined- (source:- Jaguar land rover Pvt. Limited)
Marketing and Movies
Range Rovers are an all-time favorite for celebrities in Movies, Because of their sleek design, posh interiors, and always work as a status symbol. Take it from James Bond Movie: Skyfall to Upcoming No time to die or The Captian America: Winter Soldier. These are some movies where Jaguar Range Rover Marketing teams work very cleverly by showing their capabilities and power.
Even Singers like Charlie Puth is also involved in these campaigns, like his new song “I warned my self,” where he was showing his Jaguar XE
Quality Control
- Earlier reports showed poor quality control over JLR; cars were malfunctioning, breakdowns, engine issues.
- It showed most of the issues in Velar and Evoque, where the company fixed it for free, but this led to the decline of trust by the customers towards JLR.
- Reports also showed Range Rovers have a very low-reliability percentage, only 68%, and the servicing charges are hefty compared to other manufacturers.
Controversies
As I told you before, JLR has quality control issues, but in China, it was more than that production issues, quality issues, reliabilities issues, the fewer amount of sales network and dealers were selling jaguar at 30% less, which faced a heavy loss.
Semiconductor shortage- This problem occurred in Jan 2021 as Mercedes and JLR run short on semiconductors, which caused them to work only on 50% potential, which will heavily affect the Q2 quarter for these companies.. Still, in
Emission Norms- JLR accuse saw of cheating with the emissions of their cars, where the official released the statement saying, “we follow emission norms, and we don’t use any cheat device and software to hide their emissions.”
After the VW Emission Scandals, Regulatory were made strict toward companies where they find Jaguar XE and Range Rover were emitting nine times and 11 times more carbon than standard. Still, in norms, this is where JLR has to recall 44’000 cars for over emission.
Awards
- Land Rover Defender awarded as 2021 best car design
- Range Rover Sport Completed its millionth sales
- Cited as one of the safest cars
Conclusion
JLR has come a significant way in Automotive Industry and is currently in the progress of changing the whole SUV market, and their research facilities are also working on new tech for their vehicles from the remote system to safety systems
Tata motors also use Land Rover Platform for their vehicles like- Tata Harrier on the Discovery Platform.
FAQ
Q.Why Tata Motors Purchased JLR?
Ans. As Ford Motors was going into massive debt due to JLR, they show interested in selling both the companies and Tata Motors were the highest bidders among all, so Ford decided to sell it to Tata Motors.
Q.What are the reasons people buy Range Rover in High Numbers?
Ans. Range Rovers are known for their luxury and performance among the competition. They have very comfortable ride quality and high-performance V6, V8 engines, which create ample power and are excellent in offroading.
Q. Have Range Rover ever won any World Records?
Ans. Yes! They have won many records showing the strengths of their vehicles, from pulling fully loaded Aeroplanes to Climbing 1000 stairs in 2018.
Q. What are the upcoming cars of JLR
Ans. There is no official statement towards the upcoming car but, some of the Range Rovers have seen testing in camouflage as per enthusiasts, which makes it maybe Range Rover Discovery Hybrid or Range Rover Rover.
- Abhash Trivedi
