By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : The three main bidders for the British cars Jaguar and Land Rover, including India’s Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, made their presentations to union officials Tuesday as the unions declared they will oppose any outsourcing of jobs after the sale.
The sell-off by owners Ford Motors has generated much interest in Britain, particularly because the two British iconic brands account for up to 40,000 jobs. Apart from the two Indian bidders, also in the running is One Equity, a private group owned by a former Ford chief executive.
“There’s a lot we can’t say because of a confidential agreement we have signed with Ford, but we are very clear that we don’t want to see Jaguar, Land Rover or their component makers outsourced out of the UK,” Andrew Dodgshon, a spokesman for Unite workers union, told IANS as the Ford meetings began.
The union sees both Jaguar and Land Rover as manufacturing units of “strategic importance” to the British economy in terms of not only the number of jobs, but also the specialist car-manufacturing skills involved.
“The government has been kept involved,” Dodgshon added.
Unite also wants Ford to take an equity stake in those units that supply components – including engines – to Jaguar and Land Rover. The terms of sales the union is pushing for include a 10-year contract for Ford’s supply units.
The winning bidder will be announced sometime in December, although Ford is keeping its cards close to its chest.
Land Rover employs 8,300 workers, mainly at Solihull in the West Midlands and Gaydon, Warwickshire. Jaguar employs 7,300 people, concentrated at Castle Bromwich, near Birmingham, Whitley in Coventry, and Halewood on Merseyside, where it shares production with Land Rover.
Another 20,000 jobs are held in ancillary units, Dodgeshon said.
According to some reports, Tata could be pipped to the post because of outsourcing worries. Workers unions, who are being pressed for a quick decision from Ford, are believed to favour the bid from One Equity, The Times reported Tuesday, adding the bidding war had narrowed to a two-horse race.
But other reports said Mahindra & Mahindra had made a strong return to the bid in recent weeks after forging an alliance with the US buyout company Apollo.
Meanwhile, in a clear reference to the Indian bids, a top private equity investor Sunday questioned the logic of a deal that could end up combining the ultra-luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands with ultra-cheap vehicles in a single company.
“I don’t understand how a company that’s going to make cars for $2,000 can sell cars for $120,000,” said Thomas Stallkamp, a partner with private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, which had been among the bidders.