Tata Motors, then Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company, bought Jaguar Land Rover in 2008 (File).

New Delhi:

Ratan Tata, industrialist, philanthropist and a beloved national leader, died late on Wednesday at the age of 86. A towering figure in Indian and global business circles, he leaves behind a grieving nation and a war chest full of lessons, including the story of how he bought Jaguar and Land Rover.

In March 2008, the automotive world stood up to take notice of India.

As a new day dawned in the United Kingdom and across the pond in the United States, newspapers headlined the Tata Group’s purchase of British major brands Jaguar and Land Rover, owned by Ford, estimated for 2 .3 billion, beating compatriots Mahindra and Mahindra.

It was the Indian auto industry’s ‘Neil Armstrong moment’: ‘one small step for the Tatas, one giant leap for the country’s corporate brand’. It was also a moment of personal triumph for Ratan Tata after he was rejected by the American brand when he tried to sell a manufacturing unit.

The story begins in 1998 with the launch of the Tata Indica.

India’s first diesel-powered hatchback, the Indica, was also widely regarded as the country’s first indigenously designed and manufactured car. It was also a car that was close to Mr Tata’s heart.

However, sales were poor, and a dejected Ratan Tata, wanting to cut his losses, flew to the US to offer the plant to then Ford boss Bill Ford. The meeting did not go according to plan.

Mr. Ford reportedly rebuked Mr. Tata by stating that the Indian company should never have started manufacturing cars and that buying the factory would be a “favor” to the Tatas.

Production of the Tata Indica was halted in 2018, twenty years after it first hit the market (File).

A ‘humiliated’ Ratan Tata reneged on his offer to Ford and returned home with renewed focus and determination, and a very clear goal: to prove his doubters and critics wrong.

Nine years later, after making the Indica a success, with European and African exports in 2004 and domestic sales peaking at Rs 1.42 lakh in 2007, Mr Tata did just that.

In 2008, Ford was struggling.

The recession that roiled the American economy took its toll and the company was nearly bankrupt; if there had been no government line of credit, this could indeed have happened.

Ratan Tata was always aware that he was moving, and quickly, to take on Jaguar and Land Rover, forcing Ford (according to the reports) to acknowledge that the Indian company was doing him a ‘favor’.

The joint ventures with Marco Polo buses from Brazil, Daewoo trucks from South Korea, Fiat Chrysler, Hitachi Heavy Machinery and an aerospace and defense division all prove the mettle of Tata Motors.

And their strongest leader ever… #RatanTata Ji.

— Vedant Birla (@birla_vedant) June 2, 2022

For Mr Tata, the deal may have had an element of revenge, but it was also a good thing.

Although Jaguar was struggling at the time, it is one of the most exclusive and best-known manufacturers of sports and luxury cars in the world, and Land Rover had achieved record sales figures over the past three years.

This included raising $1 billion in 2007/2008.

READ | Ratan Tata: industrialist, philanthropist and Indian icon

“There is no reason to tinker with the brands… our challenge is to grow them,” Tata said at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, days after the deal was announced.

And they grew. JLR, or Jaguar Land Rover, sales rose from ₹9,871 million in 2011 to over ₹25,000 million in 2018. For FY24, the company said it sold over four lakh vehicles.

The entire episode showed the world what hard work, determination and resilience can bring, industrialist Vedant Birla posted on X in June 2022, on the 14th anniversary of that milestone moment.

“Tata entered the global automotive industry from there and has (since then) become a global player…”

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