TATA MOTORS

Jaguar Land Rover in the deep well
The financial situation of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has worsened to the point where the British group chooses to cancel the production of models. First, as we have reported here, Land Rover was obliged to inform the customers who ordered the Range Rover SV Coupé - that only 999 units would be manufactured, at 400 thousand euros each - that, after all, the Rolls- Royce Cullinan would not be produced. Two weeks later, again canceling: also the Discovery SVX, presented in 2017 and whose production should have started already last year, has confirmed death. If the project progressed, this would be the model that would put Discovery on a different off-road level. But not only would it be equipped with a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 gasoline engine, delivering a maximum power of 525 hp and 625 Nm, with professionals at the UK's Special Vehicle Operations Technical Center also suspension, to deal more difficult terrain with greater ease.
Confirmed that these plans are not going to get out of the drawer, Bloomberg, based on JLR internal sources, points out that India's Tata Motors would be willing to solve the problem by putting on the table three hypotheses: selling all the assets to another manufacturer, to sell part of the shares or to find a partner with whom to share costs. However, the group that controls JLR (and that is already being penalized by the bad results) denies any intention to sell, ensuring that "rumors are false that Tata Motors is trying to dispose of its participation in JLR". The next times are not auspicious. Along with falling sales in the Chinese market, JLR has to solve quality problems. Meanwhile, in the UK, where it employs 4,500 people, its operation is being severely penalized by Brexit. To address these difficulties, the Project Charge is underway, a plan that foresees cost cuts and the launch of hybrid and electric versions on all Jaguar and Land Rover models. It remains to be seen whether it will be enough. Autonews