Jaguar Land Rover's owner could sell some or all of the business to the French company behind Vauxhall and Peugeot, according to leaked papers.

A “post-sale integration document” identifying the benefits of a tie-up between Tata's JLR and PSA Groupe is circulating at high levels within the companies, according to sources.

The deal would come after Coventry-based JLR reported a huge £3.4bn pre-tax loss in its most recent quarterly figures, as sales plunged in its key Chinese marketand worries about diesel hit European sales.

The grim figures came shortly after January’s announcement that it was axing 10pc of its global workforceas part of a £2.5bn cost-cutting plan.

A deal would also raise fears of further cuts to JLR’s UK production base, with PSA having spare capacity at its factories.

Asked about such a deal with JLR at the Geneva motor show in March, PSA boss Carlos Tavares said he was not seeking a transaction but added that “opportunities can come up”.

News of the existence of papers outlining either a sale or tie-up would indicate this has happened.

One source said it was likely that talks had taken place between the two companies.




PSA said it was “not in a hurry for any acquisition and can stand alone” but that “if an opportunity comes, like Opel-Vauxhall, we will consider it”.

The French company has form after snapping up Vauxhall-Opel from GM for £1.9bn two years ago.

Tata said “there is no truth to these rumours”.

Despite the denials, insiders at JLR say “things are moving quickly behind closed doors”.

One who has seen the integration papers told Press Association: “To have a document like this in circulation at the two firms points to the fact things are very far down the line with either a sale or acquisition.”

Some sort of collaboration would open up the US market to PSA, where Mr Tavares has said he wants to establish the brand and could use JLR’s network to do so.



PSA bought the Vauxhall marque in 2017 as part of a £1.9bn deal with GM

Tata bought JLR from Ford for £1.5bn in 2008 in a deal that looked like a masterstroke until recently, with sales tripling under its ownership as new models were introduced.

In the year Tata acquired JLR it had annual revenues of £5bn and made a £400m loss. After £12bn of investment in the company, its most recent annual sales were £25.8bn, and a £1.5bn pre-tax profit, although this was down from the peak of £2.5bn in 2015.




JLR needs to find a partner and stem its losses, according to Birmingham University’s Professor David Bailey, a car industry expert.

“The costs of developing electric vehicles and self-driving technology mean that far bigger companies than JLR are having to join forces to afford them,” he said, pointing to the recent partnership between VW and Ford as one example.

JLR is dwarfed by PSA, which sold a total of 3.9m vehicles last year across all its brands.

“There have been signs out of India that Tata’s shareholders are becoming impatient at JLR’s losses, so Tata could be open to a partial sale,” he added.

However, a tie-up could threaten UK jobs, Mr Bailey said. “This could hasten the closure of UK plants such as JLR’s Castle Bromwich site,” he added.

While JLR struggles financially, PSA has been steered to profitability by Mr Tavares. In its last financial year, the company’s global vehicles sales rose 6.8pc, revenues were up almost a fifth at €74bn (£63.7bn) and net profits surged 40pc to €3.3bn.

 

F types may be classics sooner than we think.

 

Now we’ll have to worry about our cars going on strike...

 

Or being set on fire!

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/11...ts-tata-motors

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