JLR's fate dwindling; talks with govt may collapse

The fate of Indian conglomerate Tata group-owned Jaguar Land Rover is uncertain as talks with the UK government over a financial support package has virtually failed, media reports say.

"The future of Jaguar Land Rover, the largest UK-based car maker, is under threat as talks with the Government about a financial support package were on the brink of collapse last night," according to the Telegraph.

Meanwhile, another daily the Financial Times (FT) said, "The government was last night accused of trying covertly to nationalise Jaguar Land Rover after it emerged that ministers had demanded the right to choose a chairman and veto redundancies at the troubled carmaker during bail-out negotiations."

FT further said that "the demands, which were part of a deal under which Jaguar would have received 175 million pound in government loan guarantees, were rejected by the group's Indian owner, Tata."

Quoting Howard Wheeldon, an analyst at BGC Partners, FT said the proposals were "backdoor nationalisation", while the Telegraph carried Wheeldon as saying: "This latest government failure to support the future of the UK economy is an absolute disgrace - tantamount to throwing the best of the highly valuable British luxury car industry and export potential into a den of wolves."