Tata seem to be managing JLR differently to any previous owners by not interfering too much and letting them get on with what they do well - I can't find a similar example like this in the history of the motor industry although it's not uncommon in other industries.

It doesn't seem to me difficult to accept that if Defender had carried on, then it's big advantage of full-frame construction allowing a plethora of low volume body shapes would be built cheaper in India where the labour-intensive nature of Defender construction would be better served. If Defender is still legal in India after 2015 it makes perfect sense to move all the presses and tooling there rather than destroy them here - because Defender cannot be sold here after 2015.

The UK motor industry has gone through massive change and upheaval since I did my apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce in the '60s - we've got rid of all the dross, all the unproductive parts and gradually expanded on doing profitable bits well - Honda, Nissan and Toyota all send UK cars to Japan, BMW sends UK engines back to Germany, Ford sends UK engines all around the world, Ellesmere Port is GM's lead plant for the Astra and you'll see many UK-built Opels on their way to Germany.

For JLR to succeed, they have to design & develop good cars and build them well - it may take a decade or so for their unreliability image to fade but this is the way to do it and so far, so good.

But if and when China and India have built the knowlegdebase to set up in their own countries, I see little to prevent that

The United States has a plentiful knowledgebase, but Vauxhall is still based in Luton.

Personally I'm quite relaxed about it all but I've never seen any point in trying to be protectionist or in trying to stop the rest of the world developing. So long as globalisation doesn't mean world dominance by a handful of corperations, we have nothing to fear by accepting it's real.

In the case of JLR, Asia is fast becoming their biggest export market. While Honda are very focussed on selling to the shrinking EU economies, JLR are in the position to sell things to an all new wealthy elite in the East. The result is clear, Honda are cutting jobs in the UK while JLR are increasing them.

The existing UK plants won't be able to meet JLRs growing overseas demand, they're producing in Brazil for the same reason Nissan decided to produce in Sunderland.

Tata seem to be managing JLR differently to any previous owners by not interfering too much and letting them get on with what they do well

Fair enough, but this interfering owners line is often used to paper over cracks for a marque which should've died earlier. Saab being a case in point. Tata have clearly had input, but they didn't buy JLR to put a Jag badge on a Tata Nano. They bought it because they knew the brand could have significant pull in emerging economies.

Rich Chinese people don't want the s*** they've been flogging us for the last 40 years. They want nice stuff.

QUOTE:...""Tata seem to be managing JLR differently to any previous owners by not interfering too much and letting them get on with what they do well - I can't find a similar example like this in the history of the motor industry although it's not uncommon in other industries.""

Ford and General Motors used to leave their European subsidiaries to design and market their own products - and still do to some extent.

If, as is perfectly possible, Tata adds other car makers to its portfolio alongside Jaguar Land Rover and Tata's own brand, then there will be pressure to rationalise, with increasing commonality of components. I'm not suggesting that the Range Rover could share many parts with the Tata Nano, but you know what I mean! And that would mean more interference from the parent company, or perhaps its automobile division.