It was just a matter of time. After getting a remarkable upsurge in sales of its Land Rover and Range Rover line, Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover is finally coming to its senses with plans to manufacture its vehicles in China.
Auto industry pundits have long opined that its plans to assemble car in labor-cheap China are essential in establishing Tata’s recently acquired marque as a global player in the automotive industry.
JLR currently has six automotive engineering, manufacturing and assembly plants in the UK, notably its engineering and design centers at Whitley in Coventry and in Gaydon, its Land Rover body assembly and paint shop in Halewood, two Midland factories for Land Rover in Solihull and Jaguar in Castle Bromwich and at Browns Lane in Coventry.
Earlier, there have been specializations that with the improved revenue streams of the company, the planned pull-out and closure of its UK plants in the Midlands would be reversed. But Indian Owner, Tata Motors have been quick to pour cold water onto the speculation. The plans has been reaffirmed only last for either its Solihull or Castle Bromwich to close with a final decision sometime next year.
Tata had bought JLR from US auto giant Ford in 2008 for ₤1.7 billion and has been losing money eversince. Only in May did it see its investment into JLR experience a return to profitability after losing ₤280 million over the months preceding the turnaround.
JLR reported last week it made a profit before tax of ₤32 million in May which saw a 42.3% increase in sales of its Land Rover over the same month last year. China’s performance was particularly impressive with more than a doubling of its sales over last year at 104% increase.
JLR’s Chief Executive Carl-Peter Forster had unraveled its company’s expansion plans into China while announcing the creation of 1,000 more jobs in the UK, extolling its return to profit and agreeing to sell off Browns Lane veneer factory in Coventry and pulling out of the Browns Lane factory as well.
Prof. David Bailey of the Coventry University’s Business School opined that JLR’s planned expansion into China wont’ impact on its production in the UK for as long as there’s growth in sales and they’re expanding. He says that what is more important as that “they invest and bring in a new range of models.”
He admits that JLR simply has too many UK plants and that he would not be surprised that even if production ramps up “from 200,000 to 300,000, as they plan to do, they only need two factories in the UK.”
JLR is also planning to create 1,000 new jobs to work on the new Range Rover model to be developed at its Halewood factory in Liverpool which has 3,500 engineers while looking to close down on one of its Midlands plants. At the same, Prof Bailey opines that Carl Forster expects UK government support with the Conservative party expected to shift its tax credit to support smaller companies and with roughly ₤400 million R&D money going to the UK, JLR hopes the UK government does not cut them off.
Posts Tagged ‘Carl-Peter-Forster’
Jaguar Land Rover Goes To China
Thursday, June 17th, 2010Tata Takes Jaguar Land Rover to the Road of Recovery
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Amidst a worldwide economic recession, India is surging ahead with a super-fueled economy considered second only to China. Nothing is more evident of this than the sales performance of Jaguar Land Rover. It just posted $59 million in profits for the month of February.
Providing an encouraging swing to the recovery in global car sales, India’s Tata Motors reported its division selling luxury British marques Jaguar Land Rover sold 17,197 cars around the world in February. That’s a 60 per cent increase in sales for last month.
The previous 10 months in its fiscal year showed a 16% decline reflecting the dismaying economic slump in 2009, Land Rovers sales were up 62% at 13,905 in February alone, representing 55% higher at 3,292 units. A JLR spokesman confirmed that “This is the sixth consecutive month of improvement for Land Rover.”
Land Rover sales and Turkey at 162% higher. In other emerging markets, China sales doubled, while sales in Brazil increased 75%. Sales in Korea were up 87% South Africa rose to 165% from the previous quarters. In the meantime, the more mature North American and Indian domestic markets showed Land Rover sales up at 18% and 46%, respectively.
Tata Motors may have bought the Jaguar Land Rover marques but it continues to employ 8,000 people in the UK to assemble its cars in the West Midlands and at Merseyside and Halewood.
Senior management at Jaguar Land Rover recently reported the company’s first quarter profit since getting acquired from Ford Motors by Tata for £1.25 billion back in the summer of 2008. From October to December 2009, it enjoyed its first profits of £55 million, a stark contrast with the previous quarter losses of £60 million. On the other hand, its Jaguar XF sports car priced starting at £29,900 has garnered better popularity in the UK selling 992 units in the last ten months compared with 258 units in the 12 months prior.
The Jaguar Land Rover Company is currently overseen by Carl-Peter Forster, the new Tata Motors CEO who used to run General Motor’s European operations. The management team at Jaguar Land Rover also found a new head in the person of Ralf Speth.
Mr. Forster and his team have yet to decide on the fate of Jaguar Land Rover’s two West Midlands factories the UK which were earlier announced by the previous regime as slated for possible closure. Its business plans called for closing either Castle Bromwich which makes Jaguars, or its Solihull plant which makes Land Rovers.
Either way, Tata plans to offset either closure with 800 jobs to be created at Merseyside where the new LRX baby Range Rover is planned to be built. But it does leave a bad taste in the mouth that just when JLR is earning money, it would down close down historic factories that would lose thousands of jobs.
Moreover, Jaguar Land Rover’s finances got a boost last week with confirmation from the European Investment Bank that it will be at the receiving end of a £340 million research fund.
For more information, visit timesonline.co.uk
Carl-Peter Forster unveiled as new TM CEO
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Tata Motors recently confirmed the appointment of Carl-Peter as their group chief executive officer, giving him overall responsibility for the global operations of Tata Motors which will include Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). Mr. Foster vacated his last post as CEO of General Motors Europe last year prior to the decision by the GM board to cancel to proposed sale of Opel to Magna and retain the unit instead. Mr. Forster had publicly aligned himself with Magna’s bid, and the lengthy negotiations along with political machinations surrounding the German government’s tacit support for the Magna bid led to the stalling of the planned bid. There had been considerable speculation concerning Mr. Forster’s probable appointment to a senior position within Tata Motors after the January departure of JRS CEO, David Smith. It is widely thought in the industry that JLR will be chief among Mr. Forster’s new projects.
Mr. Forster, 55, has been involved in the automobile industry for almost a quarter of a century and has most recently been head of GM Europe, overseeing Saab, Opel/Vauxhall as well as the European arm of Chevrolet. Prior to joining GM in 2001 Mr Forster spent 13 years at BMW, holding a number of posts including Managing Director of BMW South Africa. He was also on the managing board responsible for manufacturing. The chairman of Tata Motors Ratan Tata commented on the appointment and was enthused about the possibility for Tata’s expansion overseas, stating that ‘Mr. Forster’s induction will facilitate its (Tata Motors) ambition towards being a truly international company.”
Mr. Forster’s appointment comes as little surprise to those within the industry as he possesses the requisite experience to push Tata motors on to the next level with his extensive knowledge of the European automobile market and industry. His knowledge of just how a major international player like GM operates and functions in terms of diversity and with an international approach will be invaluable to TM, and is clearly just what the company requires. Mr. Forster also brings valuable cost-management experience from his work on Project Olympia with GM Europe. Also, his perspectives on industrial relations should prove especially valuable to Jaguar Land Rover.
It is believed that Mr. Forster’s industry-wide respect as well as his ability to bring a fresh perspective to the Indian market will be invaluable to TM. It is thought, however, that Mr. Forster’s principal task will be to catapult TM to the next level, and that means international exposure. It could well be a case of right place, right time for both TM and Mr. Forster as many of TM’s building blocks are already there given that the company is already well-established in one of the globe’s emerging markets coupled with very low manufacturing costs. TM is also fairly diverse with regards to its products as it makes cars and trucks, and is also part of a conglomerate that also has the potential to reap further dividends.
For more in-depth analysis and other information related to this story be sure to visit Telegraph.co.uk for all the latest updates.