Ratan Tata proved to be an excellent steward of JLR, will inspire generations of business leaders: Ford

Mumbai: Ford Motor Company chairman Bill Ford Saturday said he is "saddened" by the death of industry titan Ratan Tata earlier this week.

"Ratan was a leader of vision and integrity and proved to be an excellent steward of Jaguar and Land Rover," Ford said in a statement.

Tata's legacy will continue to inspire future generations of business leaders and entrepreneurs, Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, said.

Tata, who is credited with taking the salt-to-software conglomerate to newer heights during the over two decades of leading it, died at a city hospital on Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 86.

In 2008, group company Tata Motors bought JLR from Ford for USD 2.3 billion in an all-cash deal.

Ford recalled that he had met Tata only once in person and described the meeting as "warm and cordial".

The two spoke about the challenges and joys of running family businesses and our mutual love of cars during the meeting, the 67-year-old Ford added.

Denying claims of Tata feeling "humiliated" at the meeting as described by one of the Tata group veterans who attended the meeting, Ford said some accounts of their meeting "could not be any further from the truth".