An Indian ownership of Jaguar, one of the two luxury cars that the US car maker Ford is selling off, is not acceptable to the American dealers of the brand.
Tata group and Mahindra & Mahindra are two of the front-runners for acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover, along with a private equity bidder, One Equity that is led by a former Ford CEO.
While Tatas and M&M are believed to have an upper hand in the race, according to a media report in New York, the Jaguar dealers of the US are in favour of the One Equity bid.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Ken Gorin, chairman of the Jaguar Business Operations Council, as saying that the two brands should not be sold to the Indian bidders.
"I don't believe the US public is ready for ownership out of India for a luxury-car brand such as Jaguar... I believe it would severely throw a tremendous cast of doubt over the viability of the brand," Gorin told the business daily.
Gorin warned against selling the premium Jaguar brand to either Tata Group or Mahindra and Mahindra citing "unique image issues," the report said.
According to Gorin, the US dealers also prefer One Equity Partners because the man leading its pursuit of Jaguar and Land Rover is Jacques Nasser, a managing director at the firm.
However, the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) union is reportedly favouring the bid from Indian conglomerate Tata Group, mainly due to the group's manufacturing expertise.
Further, the union is believed to be apprehensive about the bid by a private equity firm, according to various British media reports over the past few weeks.
All the three bidders had made presentations to union representatives on November 20, while they are understood to have submitted their revised and binding bids on Wednesday.
The WSJ report quoted Gorin as saying he was not judging the management capabilities of Tatas or Mahindras.
"My concern is perception (in the marketplace), and perception is reality... It's about saying there are unique image issues with two of the bidders that the other one doesn't have," the paper quoted him as saying.
Gorin pointed out that his concerns would not be relevant if Jaguar was a mass-market brand. "We are a luxury brand. There are a number of subjective items that create the lustre of a brand ...I do not mean to be negative towards anyone. I don't think we could have a Chinese-owned Jaguar either," he said.
The report said that Gorin's comments illustrate how groups with a stake in the future of Jaguar and Land Rover are choosing sides as Ford approaches a decision on selling them.
"Last month, about 60 senior shop stewards representing workers at Jaguar and Land Rover voted in favour of a resolution supporting Tata's bid," the paper added.
