By Surojit Chatterjee
Tata Motors, the automotive arm of India's Tata Group, is all set to clinch talks with US automaker Ford Motor Co. and become the new owner of Land Rover and Jaguar with an announcement to the effect expected as early as Wednesday.

According to a source close to the deal, Tata Motors is likely to ink the deal with Ford on March 25, while the official announcement may be made on Wednesday, the day Ford is scheduled to make the announcement on engines, pensions and other long-term agreements related to the deal.

Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors and Lewis Booth, executive vice president, Ford Motor Co., will be heading the two delegations, the source said.

The actual process of acquisition may take several months and is expected to be complete by the second quarter of 2008, the source added.

According to John Gardiner, the London-based Ford spokesman, the talks are going on smoothly without any "major roadblocks" and Ford has agreed to "make the contribution towards the pension (fund) deficit" which is about $300 million.

And, contrary to the demands of workers of Jaguar and Land Rover factories in the UK, Ford will be going for an "outright sale" and will not "maintain a holding in the brands."

However, Ford has given its long-term commitment to the workers' union Unite over supply of critical components like engines and transmission post-deal.

Meanwhile, to appease the workers, Tata Motors has assured that there would not be any layoff post-acquisition, that the British brand value would be preserved and it would not relocate the manufacturing facilities of the two brands.

In addition, Tata Motors said it would not outsource any engineering work to India, allaying the fears of the workers that their jobs were at stake. Ford employs about 16,000 odd employees in its Jaguar and Land Rover factories in the UK.

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