GREAT British Cars

Why buying a second-hand jag puts you in good, competitive company…

In the business pages of this Sunday’s Washington Post, Michael Lennox asked whether an aspiring global competitor from a developing economy could use the acquisition of an established Western business to grow its earnings and diversify.

Michael’s case in point was Tata’s acquisition in 2008 of the British luxury auto brand Jaguar Land Rover. I’ll cut to the chase, spoil the suspense and reveal that Michael says yes in this case, but he warns that not all acquisitions are this simple. What Michael presumably didn’t have space to add in his article was that this acquisition was so successful that JLR has announced 2,000 new UK jobs since November alone. Or that JLR’s new Evoque model won the North American light truck of the year award at the Detroit 2012 International Auto Show.

Both of these are clearly signs that overseas investors agree that Britain is open for business, and that the UK’s autos sector is prize winning.  Tata doesn’t appear to be alone, judging by recent announcements by other non-UK autos investors, like GM and Nissan, in the last few months.

But we can’t afford to be complacent, which is why the Business Secretary Vince Cable presented the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill to the British Parliament on 23 May to help make the UK one of the most business-friendly countries in the world.  The bill proposes improvements to the employment tribunal system, will establish a new Competition and Markets Authority, and reduces the regulatory burden on business.