With Mahindra & Mahindra pulling out of the race to acquire the premier British models Jaguar and Land Rover that have been put on the block by Ford Motor, the contest for the two brands is now confined between Tata Motors and Jacques Nasser’s One Equity.  

Although Tata Motors is a clear frontrunner, it has to wait till January next year to learn about the fate of its bid as the Ford Motor management is yet to make an official announcement regarding its preferred bidder.

According to sources, although Mahindra & Mahindra has been a serious contender for the two prestigious brands although, it decided to withdraw from the race on the pretext that the conditions of the deal were to complex. They said that the Intellectual Property Rights related to the deal had made the company wary of pursuing further with its bid.

The Mahindra & Mahindra management was of the opinion that it would have to revert to Ford Motor every time they had to do anything with the technology of the two brands. This has certainly left only Tata Motors and the private equity firm One Equity in the race.

Although only two bidders remain in the race, the Ford Motor management is still undecided on its preferred bidder. Although Ford India president Arvind Mathew has commented that the Tata Motors’ bid for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands was ‘very interesting’, the deal on the two models is expected to be finalized early next year when Ford's Premier Automotive Group (PAG) is expected to make a formal announcement to its stockholders.

Experts in the industry circle believe that notwithstanding all the anxieties regarding the jaguar and Land Rover deal, the Tata Motors has a distinctive edge over its rival Equity One owing to the Indian group’s size as well as its current operations in the UK.

The prospects of Tata Motors winning the bid has enhanced following Tata Steel’s acquisition of the Anglo-Duch steel manufacturer Corus earlier this year.

In addition, Tata Motors has been able to clear the apprehensions of the trade unions in the UK that even after it won the bid, it would not shift any major operation overseas – in this case to India. On the contrary, in its presentation before the trade unions, Tata Motors has emphasized that it has plans for huge investments at the Jaguar and Land Rover factories.

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