Tata has the last laugh as Jaguar XF sales nearly double in the UK

Jaguar XF Diesel Front Photo

We thought Tata Motors showed some old money class and family jewels of titanium when they took over the ailing Jaguar Land Rover combine from the then equally enervated Ford Motor Co. The acquisition happened smoothly, and Tata Motors Limited became one of the brands to watch out for, now that it had some premium offerings in it’s kitty.

Even before the initial sense of deja vu abated, the recession struck and with that, the going obviously seemed a lot steeper than that was originally envisioned before the credit crunch hit. Analysts were quick to call Tata Motors’ acquisition of Jaguar-Land Rover a huge mistake and Business Week even went on to suggest that Tata Motors should look at “Nano-ing” JLR.

Rhetoric predicting the doomsday finds lots of takers, especially when the so called takers are bang in the middle of a recession. Ratan Tata and Tata Motors took all the flak that came along and quietly worked with the JLR team to set things right. Like they say, there is nothing like a splendid performance to shut critics up, and Tata Motors seem to have done just that with the JLR turnaround which certainly is nothing short of stellar. Actions speak louder than words and here’s some real action from the Jaguar-Land Rover front.

In the United Kingdom, 2522 XF were sold in March 2010 compared to 1294 the previous year, up 94.6 per cent. XK sales improved by 36.3 per cent, with 383 cars sold compared with 281 last March. For the first quarter, 3514 XF were sold in the UK up 67.2 per cent from 2102 sales. XK sales improved 25.4 per cent with 509 cars sold compared to 406 in 2009.

Overall Jaguar performance in the UK is up 1.1 per cent, with total sales of 3056 compared with 3024 last March; all the more impressive considering the X-Type was discontinued at the end of 2009 and sales of the all-new new XJ are due to commence from May.

Now, while the hardworking team at JLR deserves most credit for the splendid turn around, we’re harping on Tata Motors simply because it stood it’s ground and made things happen and happen quickly even as the critics panned it and and it’s decision to acquire JLR endlessly. Hence, we thought Tata Motors deserves more than just a mention for backing itself and turning things around at JLR.

Meanwhile, for all the fans of the feline leaping cat in India, here’s something you’d be interested in reading.

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