The only question mark that surrounds the acquisition is one posed by some industry watchers in the US - over the branding of the two luxury brands, given that Tata Motors have unveiled the Nano, the world's cheapest car, this year.

Tata Motors is India's largest automobile company, with revenues of $7.2 billion in 2006-07. With over 4 million Tata vehicles plying in India, it is the leader in commercial vehicles and the second largest in passenger vehicles.

In the past few years, the Tata group has led the growing appetite among Indian companies to acquire businesses overseas in Europe, the United States, Australia and Africa - some even several times larger - in a bid to consolidate operations and emerge as the new age multinationals.