The ongoing saga of who will buy Jaguar/Land Rover continues to rumble on with Tata Motors saying it is pleased with progress in talks with owner Ford.
Tata has long been seen as the hot favourite to buy the premium British brands and although Ford has said no final decision has been made it seems Tata is feeling very confident.
‘We have had positive discussions so far with Ford concerning the possible purchase of Jaguar/Land Rover and we are now entering a period of more focused and detailed negotiations,' a Tata spokesman told reporters.
'We are pleased by the progress in the discussions to date and very positive about the prospects of this business going forward,' the statement said.
The statement from Tata is understood to have said the discussions were complex.
‘We hope both parties can reach an agreement in the forthcoming weeks, though these are complex discussions and there is still much work that needs to be done before that position is reached,’ it said.
Lewis Booth, executive vice president of Ford of Europe, said today: 'Ford is committed to focused negotiations at a more detailed level with Tata Motors concerning the potential sale of the combined Jaguar Land Rover business.'
'There is still a considerable amount of work to do, and while no final decision has been made, we will proceed with further substantive discussions with Tata Motors over the forthcoming weeks with a view to securing an agreement that is in the best interests of all parties concerned.'
Meanwhile Tata has reported a total sale of 47,678 vehicles (including exports) for the month of December 2007, a decline of 2% compared to 48,757 vehicles sold in December last year.
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