Car Manufacturers Queue Up For Government Handouts

Thursday, 27. November 2008

Hands up all those who are aware that Land Rover and Jaguar are now owned by Indian motor manufacturer Tata? I thought as much, even though in a recent report the Times Online referred to the takeover as one of the highest profile Indian takeovers in the UK most people still believe that Land Rover and Jaguar are owned by Ford. As a result of the takeover just 9 months ago one could be expected to assume that they have plenty of new world money to throw into the company but it has emerged, like many other UK car manufacturers, that they are lining up for a Government handout, in the case of JLR they want a £billion loan that will be used for research and development, to ensure that jobs are not lost and that when we emerge from the dire worldwide credit crunch and recession that we are not left behind by other countries. Now I know that I can sometimes be a daft accountant but if every country is suffering in the same way as us how will we be left behind by car manufacturers based in other countries? I was offered some new Renault Lagunas at 35% discount recently by a main dealer and Renault are not alone in being able to offer huge price reductions so why not drop the prices of new cars in line with the prices paid in the US and the UK manufacturers and dealers would sell many more vehicles keeping production lines running and people in jobs. Forget about future developments for the moment and try to get drivers into newer, greener more efficient cars than they are driving presently, now that would have an immediate effect on the environment – but what do I know? By Graham Hill