[Tstag]

TATA has bought Daimler:

Classic names are part of Tata deal - Automotive News


...and Rover and Lanchester!

[Mpower]

I thought Mercedes purchased the rights for the Daimler name.

[Bimster]

Originally Posted by Mpower

I thought Mercedes purchased the rights for the Daimler name.

No. Its been Jaguar owned (hence PAG) and makes versions of XJ.

Originally Posted by Sahil

Any mention of the Range Rover or it's sport version being assembled?

RR sport is not really a version of Range Rover.Its rather based on LR3/Disco3.

[Mayavi]

Originally Posted by Mpower

I thought Mercedes purchased the rights for the Daimler name.

Wikipedia indicates that Gottelib Daimler's spawned two companies - Daimler Motor Works which was acquired by Jaguar and Daimler Motoren Pas...? which merged with Benz & Co to form Daimler Benz. A Modern day example would be the two Reliance companies owned by Ambani brothers - RIL (ADAG) and RIL (Mukesh Ambani).

Anyway, on what TATA could do that Ford couldn't do, I think Ford tried to take Land Rover upmarket and Jaguar to mass market whereas it should have been the other way around. Make Landies more affordable and Jags more premium. Atleast a major products from Land Rover stable should cater to the down and dirty off-road market rather than the luxury-Off road market. If TATA can reverse what Ford did and introduce more upmarket vehicles from Jag stable (may be a super car or two to compete with Aston Martin and Maseratti) then it would taste succes.

Btw, I saw the XF for the first time in flesh today... stacked one on the other at the back of a huge tractor trailer heading to the local Jag dealer. The rear design is simply awesome and the front is good too although not as exciting as the rear.

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by Mpower

I thought Mercedes purchased the rights for the Daimler name.

Nopes. Cars made by Daimler in Germany were called Mercedes. Mercedes is not a Benz name, it's a Daimler name. Mercedes and Benz merged to form Mercedes Benz.The British wing of Gottlieb Daimler's company was still using the Daimler name on their cars. This company was bought bought by Jaguar. Hence, the name Daimler is used by Jaguar. The Daimler name is used only on the most well equipped Jaguar XJ cars.

[amtak]

can we close this thread mods? and continue discussion on the other one?

[merve_extreme]

Originally Posted by Mpower

I thought Mercedes purchased the rights for the Daimler name.

Mercedes bought rights for the Diamler corporate name.Jaguar still owns the brand name.

[varun_patra]

Jaguar finally changed hands this week with Indian carmaker Tata paying $2.3 billion for both the luxury brand and Land Rover. Although this seems like good value for Tata, Jaguar’s performance of late has been dire.

The carmaker sold less than 54,000 units in all of 2007, down from about 70,000 units just one year prior but, with the financial backing of Tata and the hands-of-approach to management Indian execs have in store, sales could potentially double within the next couple of years.

Analysts at Just-Auto predict sales numbers to approach 100,000 units in the near future thanks to the introduction of the new XF and continued sales of the X-Type, XJ and XK.

“Possible new models in the Jaguar product plan, which await the green light from Tata, could further lift this figure towards 150,000 by 2012-2013,” analysts claim. Some of the new models the analysts are talking about include the rumored F-Type and possible coupe and cabrio variants of the new XF.


Link - Motor Authority Jaguar sales expected to double with Tata help

[sujaylahiri]

Originally Posted by Mayavi

Btw, I saw the XF for the first time in flesh today... stacked one on the other at the back of a huge tractor trailer heading to the local Jag dealer. The rear design is simply awesome and the front is good too although not as exciting as the rear.

I quite liked the rear end of the XF when I saw it at the Detroit Auto Show couple of months back. But I didn't like that front grille. They should really do something about it. Makes it look a little less upmarket.

But then looks are subjective.