700-MILLION POUNDS STERLING TATA SPEND TO BEEF UP JLR R&D

Tata Motors is expected to spend over 700 million British pounds sterling in research and development (R&D) in Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). It will also hire 600 engineers and technical staff over the next two years. Fuel prices and strict emission norms are forcing JLR to increase the efficacy of its fuel guzzling vehicles. Therefore R&D spend has become vital. Tata Motors had approved the spending during the takeover negotiations. Land Rover will require around $400 million towards investments to meet emission norm changes in the next 2-3 years. Jaguar requires a major product overhaul and needs an extra $1 billion towards R&D costs.

Source: Economic Times. Jun 20, 2008