A great acquisition decision
In 2008, Jaguar was acquired by the Indian auto Company, Tata Motors. Most analysts who thought that purchasing Jaguar Land Rover for $2.3 billion was just an expensive blunder met the decision with skepticism. The acquisition capitalized on Ford’s desperation to secure its own survival and purchased the brand for billions less than it spent to acquire them.
Since then, Tata Motors has successfully turned around the failing company on the verge of collapse utilizing disciplined financial plans, target investments, and tight cost controls.
Cutting the red tape
After successfully releasing several new models and a gorgeous re-design of the flagship range rover, Jaguar has announced its creation of a technology venture, InMotion, designed to achieve a more nimble approach to product research, design, creation, and launch.
Designed to imitate the fast-moving nimbleness of tech startups, InMotion will employ up to 30 personnel based in London. Initially, they will oversee research and development with hefty financial and technological backing. As projects get pitched and approved, InMotion will then pivot into a production role, creating nimble services that keep up with the ever-changing mobility sector.
In a press release, Jaguar Land Rover’s Group Strategy Director, Adrian Hallmark said:
“With the development of new apps and on-demand services, InMotion provides us with an opportunity to provide engaging and invaluable experiences to both new and existing customers globally.”
“As a start-up business, InMotion combines the flexibility and pace needed to compete in the ever-changing mobility sector. It allows us to react quickly to new tech and ever-changing customer demands.”
Information from Jaguar Land Rover has been fairly non-committal when it comes to details concerning upcoming projects. However, the move follows a lager trend seen in the automaker industry of creating independent subsidiaries that are more nimble with less bureaucracy to bog projects down. Ford spun off their Ford Smart Mobility subsidiary, Daimler recently spun off Car2Go, and now Jaguar Land Rover has taken steps to increase their technology development mobility.
Interrupted markets improve
The automotive industry has been fairly slow to progress in the last 10 to 15 years. With digital native startups “attacking the norm,” more of the established industry is being forced to take action. It will be fascinating to observe how the growing technology sector merges with the automotive industry.
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