Bill Ford pays tribute to Ratan Tata, clarifies 'Detroit meeting' stories

When a great figure passes, it is usual for well-wishers and the media to remember and recount various incidents from the person's life to serve as a motivation for others. The passing away of Padma Vibhushan Ratan Naval Tata, one of India's tallest industrialists and the erstwhile chairman of Tata Group, has been no exception.

However, the rising prominence of social media has added a new twist to this phenomena, with the result that many of these stories are no longer as reliable as they used to be.

One such tale that seems to have made the jump from social media to mainstream media recounts how Ratan Tata was 'humiliated' by William (Bill) Ford Jr, the current chairman of Ford Motor Co, during a crucial business meeting in Detroit in 1999.

Ratan Tata, the story goes, went to Detroit to explore the sale of his passenger car division, which -- according to the story -- had not got off to a great start. Tata, the story goes, was disappointed at the first-year sales of Indica and wanted Ford to take the car business off his hands.

However, during the meeting, says this narrative, Bill Ford made it clear that he would only consider buying the division as a favour to Tata, and even asked Tata why his company got into the passenger car business when 'they knew nothing about it'.

Tata, goes the story, felt humiliated by this, and resolved in his mind to make a success of the passenger car division and demonstrate to everyone that Tata Motors could build a world class car business.

The story is held up as another example of how the West tends to underestimate Indians, and how Ratan Tata -- nine years later -- had the last laugh by buying Jaguar and Land Rover -- iconic British brands -- from Ford in 2008.

So, how much of this story is true? Very little, going by our insider sources, and Bill Ford himself.

Hormazd Sorabjee, editor Autocar India, recalls asking Mr. Tata a few months ago about the veracity of the Ford story which had been rampant on social media for some time. According to Tata, he had a very pleasant conversation with Ford and even spoke of baseball and basketball. In recent times, a lot of fake stories have been attributed to Ratan Tata which he was forced to clarify on social media.

Moreover, in a statement on Ratan Tata's death, Bill Ford called Tata a "leader with a vision and integrity" who "proved to be an excellent steward of Jaguar and Land Rover", and dismissed the dramatic accounts of his meeting with the Indian businessman.

“I only had the opportunity to meet Mr Tata once in person. It was a warm and cordial meeting where we talked about the challenges and joys of running family businesses and our mutual love of cars," he said.

"The accounts of our meeting in some press reports could not be any further from the truth," he added. "Ratan’s legacy will continue to inspire future generations of business leaders and entrepreneurs."

Other sources close to the Tata Group also confirmed that the story -- as circulated in the mainstream and social media -- was more fiction than fact.

Autocar India also reached out to Ford's official spokesperson, who said: “These two distinguished individuals held each other in high regard. We believe that Mr. Ford’s views about Mr. Tata present a more complete picture of their professional relationship and mutual respect.”

He noted that several media outlets have characterized the interaction as condescending towards Tata, a narrative that, he said, lacks “credible evidence”.  

“Since this narrative has always been based on individual perspectives/ personal impressions and considering that Mr. Tata never publicly commented on the matter, Ford also opted not to comment on these unsubstantiated claims in the past,” he explained.