'Tata may lose Jaguar-Land Rover over outsourcing worries'

London, Nov 20 - Indian multinational Tata and One Equity, a private equity group, emerged as the leading bidders for the British car-makers Land Rover and Jaguar as union leaders prepared to consider their bids Tuesday amid reported concerns about protecting British jobs.

According to some reports, Tata has eliminated the third bidder in the race, Mahindra & Mahindra, but could well find itself pipped to the post for the iconic British cars, currently manufactured by Ford, because of outsourcing worries.

The unions, being pressed for a quick decision from Ford, are believed to favour the bid from One Equity, which is led by former Ford chief executive Jacques Nasser, The Times reported.

However, other reports said Mahindra & Mahindra had, in fact, made a strong return to the bid in recent weeks after forging an alliance with the US buyout company Apollo.

The battle for Jaguar and Land Rover has acquired a political dimension with the government said to be worried about the fallout of the sale.

The two brands have several factories in the West Midlands and Merseyside regions of Britain and there are growing unsourced media reports that say unions are concerned about 'market positioning and outsourcing' if either Tata or Mahindra & Mahindra win the bid.

Ford is said to be keen to retain its contract to supply engines to the two marques and unions are reportedly concerned that if either Tata or Mahindra & Mahindra win the bid, the supply may be outsourced, costing thousands of British jobs.

There are also reports that the British government's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reforms is pressing the bidders for an assurance that jobs will be protected.

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.

Solihull is represented by a Liberal Democrat MP and Gaydon by the Tories, while Birmingham, Coventry and Garston are Labour areas.

The bidder is set to be announced next month.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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