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The credit crunch and the perilous state of the world’s financial markets have made for all too depressing reading in the press of late, but that general tale of quite justifiable woe seems to have led to a few wrong conclusions as far as Jaguar Land Rover’s financial health is concerned. When, on 18 September, Tata issued a letter of offer to its shareholders (see news, page seven), it provided a chance to see Jaguar Land Rover accounting figures for the first time in many years. Previously, under Ford ownership and as part of the Premier Automotive Group along with Volvo and, until March 2007, Aston Martin, ‘standalone’ Jaguar Land Rover figures were never published. Unsurprisingly, then, when Tata produced its letter many journalists were keen to take a look. Sadly, some also reported on a figure that showed an overall JLR loss for the first six months of 2008, without choosing to delve a little deeper. Split into the final period under Ford ownership (1 January – 1 June 2008) and the first month of Tata’s ownership (2 June – 30 June 2008), the figures show overall earnings before interest and tax (EBIT, or operating profit) of US$688m – approximately £372m. However, within the Ford figures until 1 June is a provision for tax of some US$912m, hence an indicated overall loss for that period of US$383m (£207m). It is that figure that many chose to seize upon, without asking any further questions. Had they done so, they would have discovered that as part of the sale process Ford wrote off a number of assets and taxes against Jaguar Land Rover, hence the disproportionately high provision for tax figure, and the apparent loss. The adverse headlines clearly took Tata by surprise, as it issued a statement to clarify that it believed the EBIT figure prior to adjustments represented the true performance of Jaguar Land Rover.