Most people remember Ratan Tata as a soft-spoken industrialist who ran his empire with compassion and honesty. However, behind the facade was a strong-willed business leader who was as resolute as he was kind.

Due to this iron will, Ratan Tata not only built India’s first successful car company, he also bought an iconic British car brand. Here is the story of Tata acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover.

In 1998, Ratan Tata launched his dream project, Tata Indica, the country’s first hatchback with a diesel engine. Sales were low so he decided to sell Tata Motors to US auto giant Ford.

In 1999, the American company’s officials came to Mumbai and held talks with the Tata Group. Later, Ratan Tata met Bill Ford, the chairman of the company, in Detroit.

In the meeting that lasted for over three hours, Bill Ford talked in a condescending tone and “humiliated” the businessman.

PTI reported that he asked Tata why he started the business when he didn’t know anything about the passenger car segment.

“You do not know anything, why did you start the passenger car division at all,” the Ford officials told their guests, and spoke about doing a favour to the Indian company by buying out the latter’s business.

The deal was cancelled.

On the 90-minute flight back to New York, a sombre Ratan Tata spoke very few words. Later, Tata decided to not sell the business.

Nine years later, during the 2008 recession, Ford was on the verge of bankruptcy. Tata Motors had become a successful company by then.

Tata offered to buy two iconic brands in the Ford portfolio – Jaguar and Land Rover.

The USD 2.3 billion all-cash deal was completed in June 2008 and Ford chairman Bill Ford thanked Tata.

“You are doing us a big favour by buying JLR’,” Pravin Kadle, who was part of the team that travelled with Ratan Tata to the US in 1999, had recounted during a public event in 2015.

Tata has had his sweet revenge.

With inputs from PTI