Ratan Tata is exactly the kind of distinguished and dignified man who would normally drive a Jaguar. Soon, though, the chairman of India's most respected conglomerate may own the marque and its factories when Ford offloads the luxury carmaker as part of the Land Rover package.

Tata Motors is in pole position to pick up the two British brands against competition from its rival Mahindra & Mahindra and a private equity group.

If Tata is chosen as preferred bidder, which may happen this week, it will represent another coup for the fast-moving industrial group, which this year confirmed its global status by buying steelmaker Corus for £6.2billion.

Tata has been making passenger cars since 1991, but before it launched the Indica in 1998 — the first Indian-made hatchback that was rebadged in Britain as the City Rover — it was best known for building trucks. The Indica was seen as revolutionary in India but it has been less well received abroad. This month, it was voted the worst car in its category in South Africa.

Mr Tata, 70, the guardian of a unique corporate ethos founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868 that sees trusts govern the group, appears relaxed about making the transition from the low end of the market to the top.

In Bombay this week he acknowledged the image disparity Tata would face in owning one of the industry's most prestigious brands while producing the world's cheapest car: the “one lakh car” (one lakh is 100,000 rupees or £1,200) that launches next year.

“How a company manages products in different sectors is the key,” said Mr Tata, an architect by training. “Toyota created Lexus, Nissan has Infiniti. No one is saying ‘how can BMW handle the Mini?' but they've made a huge success of it. So why is it impossible?”

As the driving force behind an international buying spree that included Tetley, Daewoo's commercial vehicle arm and the Ritz-Carlton in Boston, he thrives on doing what others consider impossible. Take the small car project. The sneers of derision have faded as his vision to graduate middle-income Indians from two wheels to four nears reality. A prototype is to be unveiled at the Delhi auto show next month and most of the world's top carmakers are following his lead.

“It's amusing and ironic because nearly everyone said it could not be done,” Mr Tata said. “Some have been derogatory, some dismissive, yet all are entering this area themselves. It vindicates what we set out to do.”

He is agitated by suggestions that the small car — or rather 250,000 of them on Indian roads — heralds an environmantal nightmare. He believes it will be one of the greenest vehicles around. “There are eightmillion two-wheelers put on the road every year which pollute more and are more dangerous,” he said. “If you look at the total population, the incremental emissions will be minuscule. Why are we singled out?”

Tata has been praised for its business ethic: it is the poster boy for Indian expansionism. “We do not create a trauma within the company we take over. We do not slash costs or strip it,” he said. “In every case, we have been keen that management stays and we have protected their autonomy.”

Of his critics, Mr Tata, who drives a Honda, said: “More often than not they are people who still look at India as the land of tigers, jungles and cobras and end up making statements about vindaloo.”

Tata takeovers and targets

Feb 2000 Tetley tea company, $407 million
March 2004 Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company, $102 million
Aug 2004 NatSteel's steel business, $292 million
Nov 2004 Tyco Global Network, $130 million
July 2005 Teleglobe International Holdings, $239 million
Dec 2005 Millennium Steel, Thailand, $167 million
Dec 2005 Brunner Mond Group, $120 million
June 2006 Eight O'Clock Coffee, $220 million
Nov 2006 Ritz Carlton Boston, $170 million
Jan 2007 Corus, $11.3 billion
March 2007 Bumi Resources, $1.1 billion
April 2007 Campton Place Hotel, San Francisco, $60 million

Targets
Jaguar and Land Rover, $2 billion
Close Brothers, $2.9 billion
Orient Express Hotels, $2.5 billion

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