Jaguar Land Rover today congratulated two of the automotive industry's most influential pioneers on being made Honorary Freemen of the City of Coventry, following a ceremony at Coventry Cathedral.
Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Trusts, and Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, Chairman and Founder of WMG, have followed a select group of only 13 people to be awarded the honour since 1914.
Previous recipients have included US industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie; William Morris (later Lord Nuffield) who founded Morris Motors and Nuffield College, Oxford; and Mo Mowlam, the last recipient of the award back in 1999, recognised for her contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process.
Dr Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover CEO, said: "Mr Tata and Professor Lord Bhattacharyya have made a huge contribution to the British automotive industry, and even more significantly have planted some of the seeds for automotive research, innovation and advanced manufacturing in the future.
"Mr Tata is a visionary who made Jaguar Land Rover's recovery possible. He stood firm during tough times when Tata acquired our business in 2008 ‑ when some thought Jaguar Land Rover might not survive. He could see instinctively the potential of our brands, and his leadership was unwavering. Since then our workforce has doubled, our sales have doubled, and our turnover has more than tripled. Mr Tata's support has been fundamental to this growth.
"Everyone at Jaguar Land Rover is immensely proud that Mr Tata's work as an automotive leader has been recognised, and we congratulate him and Professor Lord Bhattacharyya on this honour ‑ so rarely given over the past 100 years."
ENDS