JLR

In its Ford days JLR relied on Ford Credit to finance operations and sales, and did not need direct relationships with banks. Now it does.

In a recent interview, Ratan Tata, the group's chairman, admitted that the company bought JLR at an "inopportune time" .

To do this, JLR intends to spend £ 800m on research and development over the next two years.

Tata was sufficiently convinced by the five-year plan drawn up by JLR that it has promised to back it without any big changes.

The plant is now part of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), owned by Tata Motors, the car division of an Indian conglomerate.

This new-found confidence was helped by the buoyancy of Tata's car sales in India, and a modest recovery of orders at JLR.

Yet arguably it is bankerly skills that are most needed to get JLR, Britain's biggest indigenous carmaker, through the next month or so.

That said, neither Volvo nor JLR is big enough to matter much either way in denting Europe's overcapacity.

Last June Ford (which had bought Jaguar in 1990, Land Rover in 2000 and then combined them) sold JLR to Tata, an Indian group.

On August 10th Tata Motors posted a forecast-beating first-quarter profit, which it said had been driven by demand for JLR's luxury models.

"This is equity risk, not credit risk, " says one: if equity investors were to put money into JLR today, they would want a 40-50% return.

Apparently, the typical company director objected to JLR selling his canteen manager an affordable motor somewhat resembling his XJ.

But without a recovery in its main markets, JLR will remain vulnerable.

For Tata, JLR combined a global brand with the engineering that created its rugged four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Analysts say, however, that Tata Motors still faces significant challenges to boost JLR's falling sales.

JLR heads the queue for government-help to carmakers, though Tata today is meeting its immediate needs.

Demanded by the technology of sulfonating reaction with SO3, a new type up-jet loop reactor(JLR) with multi-ejector was designed.

JLR is still searching for a manufacturing partner in China, the world's largest car market.

Since August JLR has been losing money, and Tata has poured in a reported £ 400m in debt and equity.

Bank funding dried up and in November JLR asked the government for guarantees to enhance its credit on commercial loans.

Jaguar's brand was also part of the appeal toTata of JLR.

JLR has discussed securitising assets, such as its inventory of cars, with potential lenders, to no avail.

And it wanted the power to remove JLR's chairman if necessary.

The following year Tata Motors bought Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)for $2. 3 billion.

At the same time Tata does not appear that strapped for cash, having put £ 1. 2 billion into JLR over the past 14 months.

At one point they even wanted to appoint JLR's chairman.

Before the car had appeared in the showrooms, JLR had taken 18, 000 orders for it and it was already for sale on eBay.

Tata Motors still has an outstanding debt of $850m, from the original $3bn bridge loan it took to acquire JLR last year.