after failing to sell his fledgling passenger car business to Ford back in 1999, Ratan Tata became successful enough to "do a big favor" for the auto giant by acquiring its marquee brands—Jaguar and Land Rover—merely a decade later. Early-stage Tata took charge at the helm of Tata Motors, India's largest truck manufacturer, in 1991. His family had founded Tata Motors in 1945 to manufacture locomotives. However, he was looking forward to fulfilling
his dream of producing a completely Indian passenger car. The company launched Tata Indica—the first modern car designed and produced by an Indian company—in 1998. However, luck was not on the ambitious automaker's side due to weak sales. Tata Group decided to abandon its passenger car business unit and put it up for sale in 1999. Ford, the US auto giant, showed interest in buying the Indian company. Tata and his team travelled to Detroit, the headquarters of Ford. During a long meeting with the Ford team, the Indian team reportedly faced a lot of criticism and ‘‘humiliation.” Ford CEO Bill Ford told Tata "you do not know anything, why did you start the passenger car division at all." Ford is alleged to have said they would be doing Tata Motors a favor by buying its car division. New beginning It seems that the US automaker's comments were harsh enough for Tata and his team to leave Detroit the same evening, only to return to Mumbai with their eyes set on a new ambitious target. Tata decided to finish what he started. He paid more attention on fulfilling his dream of entering the automotive industry by designing a modern Indian car that could compete in the global markets. Nine years of hard work completely transformed the Indian company, and the path of the centuries-old American automaker, Ford. Tata’s business grew. The company's stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2004, and it bought the South Korean company Daewoo Motors. In 2005, it was one of the top 10 Indian listed companies. By 2008, Tata Motors' passenger cars were among the best sellers in the market. The company quickly became the number one car manufacturer in India, and among the top 20 in the world. Ford, on the other hand, was struggling to remain profitable, and was on the verge of bankruptcy, hit by the global crisis of 2008. That presented a great opportunity for Tata who showed interest in buying Ford's business. Tata put his bet on both Jaguar and Land Rover production lines. At this time, Bill Ford and his team traveled to Mumbai, the headquarters of Tata Group. During the meeting, Bill Ford thanked Ratan Tata, saying "You are doing us a big favor by buying JLR” - an echo of his comment a decade earlier. Reaping season JLR cars are now the best-selling premium cars under the Indian automaker, and the company itself has grown to become one of the biggest car companies in the world with a market value of over $100 billion. Tata is highly esteemed not only for the great success he has achieved to fulfill his dream, but also for his well-known generous and humble nature. He is now the interim chairman of the group, which donates 66% of its profits to charity. I create, edit, and develop Arabic content for various platforms, I cover sports and related topics.
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