Jaguar-Land Rover to utilise TCS' expertise

05 August 2008

Jaguar and Land Rover will use the information technology expertise of Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) as the iconic British brands plot their revamp under the Tata Group, its chief executive David Smith said.

''There are two or three areas where it would be good to bring in their expertise, these included cutting costs and making use of TCS' IT resources,'' the Financial Times, London quoted Smith as saying.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Smith also allayed fears of any large-scale restructuring and said there would not be any major shift to sourcing from India.

''Tata wants us to be autonomous - I've got all the executive authority I need to make both the day-to-day and the long-term executive decisions without having to consult Ratan Tata and Ravi Kant (the two other board members)'', Smith told the newspaper.

Following its acquisition from Ford Motors in June this year, the company had set up a core group comprising Ratan Tata and Ravi Kant to offer ideas on products and to provide inputs on cost-effective engineering in a bid to turn around the company.

This core group will meet every couple of months to review progress on plans, strategies and future products.