India's Tatas "Rule Britannia" after car buys

• IBTimes RSS
• Print
• E-Mail
• digg
• Del.icio.us

Next to a large image of Jaguar's shiny pouncing cat symbol and a smaller photograph of a smiling boss Ratan Tata dressed in a fighter jet jumpsuit, the Times of India mimicked a patriotic British song to declare "Tatas Rule Britannia".

"So what if the Kohinoor diamond - once considered the ultimate symbol of Indian wealth and power - now resides with the Queen of England-" the paper asked on its front page.

"It took a company from a former colony to come to the rescue of a beleaguered British brand."

Six decades after independence, the paper revelled in the news that an Indian firm that already owned one of tea-obsessed Britain's favourite brews, Tetley, and Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus, now had the keys to a car brand which has ferried British prime ministers around London for years.

Tata Motors, whose garage houses a less flashy line-up of trucks, buses and cars, including the world's cheapest, sealed the deal for Land Rover and loss-making Jaguar with Ford Motor Co on Wednesday after emerging as the frontrunner in January.

Transfer of ownership is expected by the end of the next quarter and Ratan Tata, Tata Motors' chairman, says he wants to preserve the brands' heritage and keep their identities intact.

Ford bought Jaguar in 1989 and Land Rover in 2000.

Another daily, the Hindustan Times, compared Chairman Tata to Henry Ford, founder of the U.S. car giant and the man who gave America the Model T a century ago, bringing cars to the masses.

In January, Tata realised his dream of bringing a similar "People's Car" to India when he unveiled the Nano, set to be the world's cheapest car at $2,500 when it goes on sale later this year.

• 1
• 2