Humiliated by Ford, Ratan Tata extracted revenue by buying Jaguar and Land Rover

The story of two iconic brands Jaguar and Land Rover entering the Tata stable began with an insult Ratan Tata couldn’t bear.

Back in 1998, the legendary industrialist launched his dream project, Tata Indica — India’s first hatchback with a diesel engine. But sales initially were slow and Tata Motors decided to sell off its fledgling car business within a year of its debut.

US auto giant Ford was seen as an ideal candidate.