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Originally Posted by bigman  Good story. On a similar not I know of an NRI who held a senior position. He went to India with one of his assisstants who was white. Those sent to pick them up from the airport treated the white chap as a god, offering to carry his suitcase etc whilst they ignored the indian. Even the white chap was embarrassed that his boss was being treated like that.
Anyway back to this story. The 2 so called luxury brands are white elephants. TATA will get more than they bargained for. The assembly line workers at these factories earn very good money for very little work. They will not change their working practices and TATA will end up wanting to get rid of the 2 brands. |
They most certainly ARE white elephants and that is why their production lines will die slowly in the West. Even hardcore Brits will admit that the current production costs are unforgivable and totally unjustifiable.
For a trite example, take a look at the Rover UK takeover by SAIC from China. They uprooted the ENTIRE UK Midlands-based assembly line of Rover (75, MG and others) and moved it to China. Now SAIC is SELLING the modified (and mush improved) Rover in China where it will sell like hot cakes with the perceived 'pedigree'. They are even peddling the revised MG back to the Brits. Talk about reverse colonialism
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I am sure (that after 5 years) the headlines will (approvingly) mention that Tata has moved most of the production lines to cheaper countries (may NOT be India mind you!) and will probably make a profit out of it/correct thing to do etc.
The net losers are the Ford and the UK government actually which have both invested billions and billions of pounds or have extended tax sops respectively.
ItWasntMe