Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors has been forced to deny that it is on the verge of selling the British luxury car brand to the French owner of Peugeot. Britain’s biggest carmaker has been mooted as a potential target for PSA Group – the owner of brands including Peugeot, Citroën and Vauxhall – for months amid reports that India’s Tata was growing frustrated with JLR’s struggles. A “post-sale integration document” has been passed around senior executives at the companies, detailing the potential benefits of a tie-up, the Press Association reported on Thursday. However, both carmakers denied a sale is in the offing. In a statement, Tata Motors said: “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on media speculation. But we can confirm there is no truth to these rumours.” A spokeswoman for PSA Group said the company was “open to all opportunities that would create value on a long-term basis”, but said there was “no hurry” for PSA to make an acquisition of JLR or any other carmaker. PSA boss Carlos Tavares last month made it clear in an interview that he would consider a bid for JLR, among other carmakers but added that he did not want such a deal to be a “distraction”. JLR’s sales performance has stuttered in recent months. Retail sales fell by 6.4% in the final three months of 2018, a decline that was almost entirely caused by a drop of more than 40% in China. That weakness followed a long period in which the premium segment of the global car market outperformed less expensive models. However, the poor recent performance has forced the company to scale back operations. In February JLR announced its biggest quarterly loss after it was forced to write down the value of its investments by £3.1bn as Chinese demand slumped. Later that month it announced plans to cut 4,500 jobs from its global workforce, the majority of them management roles in the UK at sites including Coventry and Gaydon. JLR has just under 40,000 employees worldwide, the majority of them in the UK, but it is dwarfed by PSA in terms of scale and sales volumes. JLR made revenues of £24.6bn in 2018, compared with PSA’s €74bn (£64bn) in the same period, while in the final three months of 2018 JLR sold 144,600 cars, against 995,100 by PSA Group. A purchase by a larger carmaker would also help JLR to make the major investments in new technology that will be necessary as carmakers prepare for the transition away from internal combustion engines to electric and autonomous technology. Philippe Houchois, an automotive analyst at investment bank Jefferies, said an acquisition of JLR by PSA was a possibility, but would not be the “transformational” deal that PSA is eyeing. Industry observers believe a merger of equals with Italy’s Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is under consideration. “JLR would welcome some help no doubt in terms of trying to get some scale,” he said. “It’s not clear what it adds to [PSA’s] core business.” However, the successful performance of PSA in its last major acquisition – the £1.9bn purchase of the Opel and Vauxhall brands from US carmaker General Motors in 2017 – has given it scope to look at a wider variety of options, Houchois added. Tavares, who made his name as Carlos Ghosn’s lieutentant in his turnaround of Renault, in February hailed Opel–Vauxhall’s first annual profits in 20 years after a major cost-cutting plan. The rapid improvement included hundreds of job cuts. Any deal between PSA and Tata would be likely to be complicated by Brexit. JLR last month temporarily closed its factories in case of a chaotic departure, but the threat of a no-deal Brexit continues to loom at the end of October, the scheduled date of departure. Tavares in February warned that the carmaker would not shy away from unpopular decisions, including shutting British factories if there is a no-deal Brexit, which would threaten the futures of Vauxhall’s plants in Luton and Ellesmere Port.<doc-sep>Over the past couple of months, there have been rumors that the owner of Jaguar Land Rover was interested in selling some or all of the company, and there were separate rumors that Peugeot was looking for a good buy . Those rumors have now phased into a new chimera rumor that Peugeot is interested in merging with Jaguar Land Rover . Advertisement The thing is, Tata, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, and Peugeot both deny that former will be sold to the latter, reports Automotive News: PSA is not in any hurry for “any acquisition and can stand alone,” the French automaker said in a statement Thursday. “We are generating the cashflow necessary to pay for our future. If an opportunity comes, like Opel-Vauxhall, we will consider it.” Tata Motors said: “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on media speculation. But we can confirm there is no truth to these rumors.”﻿ The rumor apparently comes from an unidentified leak at JLR according to a UK-based press association appropriately named Press Association. According to the alleged leaks, there’s a “post-sale integration” document negotiations on potential cost-savings from a deal are moving quickly. The rumor is mostly suspicious because of its source—the Press Association—is similar to something like the Associated Press, and its reports are generally accurate. But for now all we have to go on are the rumors from an alleged leak and the two statements declining it all. Peugeot has previously cited interest in expanding its market presence beyond Europe, including a return to the U.S., where a brand like Jaguar Land Rover already has a dealer network that could be suitable for an easier reintroduction for the Peugeot brand. Meanwhile, Tata posted a $4 billion loss in the last quarter of 2018, and JLR faces an uncertain Brexit outcome, declining sales in China, and global shift away from diesel and huge investments in electric powertrains, all of which could have a disastrous impact on the company that already laid off 4,500 employees back in December.<doc-sep>
The logo of Tata Motors is pictured at at the 37th Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok, Thailand, March 22, 2016. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom/File Photo LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - PSA Group said on Thursday it was ready to consider potential tie-ups, after the French carmaker’s shares briefly rose on a report that it was in advanced talks with Tata Motors to acquire UK-based Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). The Peugeot maker declined to comment on a report by British news agency The Press Association that a deal was imminent. Tata denied the report, which cited sources referring to an internal “post-sale integration document” describing cost savings. “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on media speculation, but we can confirm there is no truth to these rumors,” said a spokesperson for the Indian carmaker, which owns 100 percent of JLR. PSA shares jumped after publication of the PA report, before falling back after Tata released its statement, and were down 2.85 percent as of 1431 GMT. “On principle we are open to opportunities that could create long-term value for PSA Group and its shareholders,” said Alain Le Gouguec, a spokesman for the Paris-based manufacturer. PSA is setting new profitability records even as it continues to integrate Opel/Vauxhall, acquired from General Motors in 2017, and has previously signaled openness to further acquisitions. The relative fuel-efficiency of its vehicle technologies is a valuable asset as carmakers battle to meet tougher European emissions targets and avoid huge fines. JLR, by contrast, faces one of the toughest challenges to comply with looming carbon dioxide goals - compounded by the uncertainty and disruption of Britain’s protracted departure from the European Union. Tata posted a record $4 billion loss for its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, and warned that JLR would swing to an operating loss in the full year to March.