The Economy: Tata to help Jaguar...

[JPaul]

The Indian magnate Tata, used to built British designed vehicles, is now helping Jaguar? Another turn of the tables...

Tata 'to inject cash into Jaguar'
Tata Motors, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, is to inject "tens of millions" of pounds into the British carmaker, according to the Financial Times.

A spokesman for Tata Motors did not deny the report.

A cash injection by the Indian owner would give the UK government more time to decide whether to use public money to bail-out the company.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had cast doubt on a bail-out, saying the state was a "lender of last resort".

Debasis Ray, head of corporate communications for Tata, did not not deny the report but would not say how much money would be injected.

"It is our company and we are running a business," he said.

"Discussions with the government, however, are confidential and cannot be revealed. We have to run the company and are doing so to the best of our abilities."

State aid

The carmaker has asked the government for financial support and its case has been backed by unions which say the industry needs help.

Labour peer Lord Bhattacharyya had suggested ministers were discussing a £667m loan package for Jaguar.

But Lord Mandelson said that Tata group must "look to their own resources."

Jaguar Land Rover has been hit hard by a dramatic slump in sales that has affected carmakers across the world.

In the US, the government has agreed to a $17.4bn (£11.6bn; 12.4bn euros) bail-out package for its auto industry.

In the UK, the Confederation of British Industry has said urgent government loans are needed to preserve 800,000 UK jobs in the carmaking industry. The Unite union says tens of thousands of skilled jobs are "hanging by a thread".

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Business | Tata 'to inject cash into Jaguar'

Published: 2008/12/22 07:59:05 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

[Evilution]

Well, they aren't helping Jaguar/Landrover exactly as they own the company so they are helping themselves. The government are being ripped off/blackmailed over state aid. If they don't help then people start losing their job but Tata is one of the biggest companies in the world, they quite clearly do not need handouts as they have just announced that they are advertising on Ferraris on next years formula 1.

If they can afford to waste money on that, they can afford to keep their own companies afloat.