[Image Source: Tata Group]

By Gunnar Heinrich

India's Tata Motors, a car division of a larger corporation simply known as Tata (they make software and steel, too) is reported to be strongly interested in taking Land Rover and loss-making Jaguar off of Ford's debt laden hands.

The company's chairman, Ratan Tata, is said to be interested in acquiring the British marques to enhance his namesake conglomerate's worldwide exposure. Tata's purchase of the two iconic British names would also be seen, by some, as a kind of coup for India; once the crown jewel of Britain's former empire.

But others see the acquistion as making no financial sense.

"Jaguar and Land Rover are luxury brands that cater to a small percentage of customers and have a limited distribution network. What Tata needs more, if it wants to reduce its dependence on Indian buyers, is a large overseas sales network that targets the mass market," the Detroit News reported.

Still, Ford has just announced that it will push off its deadline for two weeks until the right buyer can commit, which is to say that Tata, for the moment, hasn't.

[Source: Detroit News]