Did Ford Insult Ratan Tata? No, Internet Made Up This Fake News!

On the 9th of October, we lost Ratan Tata, the former chairman and Emeritus of Tata Sons. Following his death, his numerous achievements in business and his personal life were highlighted to show how truly incredible he was. Among these stories was how Bill Ford, the executive chairman of Ford, the American automotive giant, once humiliated Ratan Tata for entering the passenger car vehicles segment. For many years, this story has been revolving on the internet. However, recently, Bill Ford and his company have clarified that this story is fake and has been created by the internet.

Bill Ford clarifies that this story is completely fabricated

For those who may not remember, the story stated that Tata Motors was struggling in the 1990s after the launch of the Tata Indica. Ratan Tata flew to Detroit, Michigan, in the United States of America to sell the Tata Motors passenger car division to Ford. However, according to the story, he was humiliated by Bill Ford and his team in front of his team.

This then led Ratan Tata to return to India the same day and work on the company instead of selling it. After this, the story continued by stating that Ratan Tata had his full-circle moment after acquiring Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in 2008. Up until now, this was the story being circulated on the internet.

However, recently, following the death of Ratan Tata, it has been clarified by Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company. He has stated that this story is completely fake and has been created by the internet.

Bill Ford stated, “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 added, “The accounts of our meeting in some press reports could not be any further from the truth.”

Bill Ford also issued a statement after the death of Ratan Tata, stating, “Ratan’s legacy will continue to inspire future generations of business leaders and entrepreneurs.” He added that he was a “leader with a vision and integrity” who “proved to be an excellent steward of Jaguar and Land Rover.”

Ford Motor Company also issued a statement

Apart from Bill Ford, one of Ford Motor Company’s spokespersons has also shared a statement on this fake story. He stated, “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.”

The spokesperson added, “Since this narrative has always been based on individual perspectives and 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.”

Ratan Tata had also dismissed this story

In addition to Bill Ford, Ratan Tata had also dismissed this story as being fabricated. Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor of Autocar India, a few months ago had asked Ratan Tata about this story of Bill Ford humiliating him during his meeting in Detroit.

However, Ratan Tata himself stated that this story is a myth and nothing of this nature took place during the meeting. He highlighted that the meeting was very professional and was focused on business. Contrary to the humiliation, Tata stated that they even discussed sports like baseball and basketball.