Ford sells Jaguar/Land Rover to India's Tata-source

www.reuters.com ^ | 03/25/2008 | By Pete Harrison and Mathieu Robbins

[RJL]

Indian incompetence can’t be overstated.

Perhaps, but I'd be careful underestimating them as I've read that East Indians are the single most successful immigrant group in America.

[MartinStyles]

I meant the locals. The smart ones are either here or coming.

The ones left there are... phew, it’s BAD.

[eraser2005]

That looks more like a Taurus (particularly a 96-99 Taurus) to me than an x-type... but still not exactly a Taurus look-alike...

At least no more so than any other vehicle. Quite honestly most midsize sedans look so much alike its silly anymore. And they all buy their parts from the same suppliers..... Would you like a Ford Passat or a Volkswagen Accord or a Honda Camry or a Toyota Taurus? :P

[eraser2005]

Of course, if you believe the AFA, then since Ford stopped all that stuff, they’re the cleanest car company on the planet....

[green iguana]

Yeah, I finally saw the XF in person in NY last week. Beautiful car - and very reasonably priced for what it is, as is the XK. Which is why I said earlier that it almost makes me want to cry that Ford is giving the company away just when they’ve returned it to world class.

[green iguana]

S-type and the Taurus were built off of the same platform, so there’s bound to be some familial resemblance. But no doubt many cars look alike these days. Only so much you can do with a rounded, aerodynamic blob...

[eraser2005]

S-type was built on the DEW98 platform, which served as the basis for the Lincoln LS and Ford Thunderbird.

The Taurus was on the D186 platform through 2007. This was shared with the Mercury Sable, Lincoln Continental, and Ford Windstar.

The new Taurus is on the D3 platform, which is/was used for the Sable, Taurus X / Freestyle, Mercury Montego, Volvo S80, Volvo V70, Volvo XC70, Volvo S60, Volvo XC90, and the upcoming Lincoln MKS....

The D3 was based off the Volvo P2, which was designed by Volvo prior to Ford’s buyout of Volvo, and which debuted in 1999.... the D3 and DEW98 are unrelated....

[green iguana]

Thanks. My info source must have been mistaken. At least I know he couldn’t give me that kind of detail. :)

[CSM]

Dang! You have a lot of info there and it is friggin spot on too! Good job.

[Cronos]

"The media like to call it the empire striking back. But I think there's more to it than that. There's a lot of evidence in international business research that companies will go to countries that are close to their own countries, close being defined broadly either in cultural terms or historical terms,"

And indians are solidly part of the Anglosphere (since everyone over there speaks at least 3 languages)