Mumbai cheers to the Fat Cat

 

But hang on a minute. We still had the F-Type. And this was to be some sort of red carpet event with the details kept a surprise. You see, the trouble with a convertible is that people can see you in it. So if you’re not particularly pretty (like me), then you need to dress the part. And so I did.

 

The event was at a posh hotel in Mumbai and there were about 40 luxury cars on the scene but all eyes were on the F-Type. Even the studied indifference of the rich couldn’t hold up to its beauty.

 

As I walked into the launch venue, I couldn’t help notice that I recognised just about every single face. I’d seen them all on television at some point. It was evident that this was a gathering of the richest and most powerful people from Mumbai. But why would they all turn up to a car launch? I mean, I doubt if an open bar would be enough to tempt this lot.

 

It began with senior management talking about how the car was made in India and that it now costs less. Standard stuff. And then Kailash Kher took the stage with his band, Kailasa, and they belted out some of their biggest hits for the crowd’s amusement. This isn’t really my brand of Vodka. The audience took it quite well. But I didn’t. I couldn’t work out why Jaguar needed to do all this to sell what is the only car in its class with any real style. It just felt so unnecessary.

 

I was a little dismayed as I was getting ready to leave when I was stopped by Jaguar’s representatives who asked me if I was enjoying myself. “Not really,” I said and proceeded explained my point of view.

 

“Look around you,” she said. “Most of these people already own Jaguars and Land Rovers. The reason we were able to make the XJ in India is because they bought them. We’re not just celebrating the car. We’re celebrating what it means to us to make it here.”

 

“And that’s when it struck me. This was a celebration of a lot more than a car launch. We were ruled by the Brits for centuries. So the least we can do as some form of latter day payback is nick two of their best car brands. Not only that, we now make the very car that David Cameron, the British Prime Minister no less, uses as his official ride, the Jaguar XJ. This is an important milestone for the automotive industry in India. Irony, in its purest form, would mean the Jaguar XJ is made in the same facility as the Tata Indica. And as true and unsettling as that may be, you can’t have one without the other."

 

So, please raise your glasses one more time to Tata Motors, makers in India of lemons, the Zest, the Freelander, the Jaguar XF and now, the Jaguar XJ.