It was on this day in 2008 that Ford - then in the midst of a sales slump - announced the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover divisions to India’s mighty Tata Group.
The $2.3 billion purchase price was less than half of what Ford had originally paid for the iconic British brands six years earlier and represented something of a coup for Tata who were then in the middle of an overseas acquisition spree, buying up everything from tea and coffee companies to steel manufacturers.
Though there were many sceptics, the Indian conglomerate quickly proved the doubters wrong in spectacular fashion by merging the two marques into a single company based out of Coventry with remarkable results.
In the financial year to March 2017, Jaguar Land Rover posted pre-tax profits of £1.6 billion…equating to a £182,000 profit every hour!