Government puts gas into Lord Mayor's Jag

What does a Government decision to think about bailing out a big business tell us?
Two things.
One is that the business has got so many other companies dependant on it that letting it go to the wall would cost far more in the long-term than throwing some money at it now.
The other is that if the business needs a bail-out it is open to accusations that it focused on making the most of the good times rather than investing in the future.
You can level that accusation at many of the car companies, not just Jaguar-Land Rover, which the Government looks likely to sink your money into.
They are a minor offender compared to their US cousins, who continued to churn out bloated, behind-the-times gas guzzlers in spite of a mountain of evidence that they were turning into dinosaurs buyers didn't want.
And neither Jaguar nor Land Rover are necessarily to blame for the tight corner they find themselves parked in.
Until recently, both were owned by Ford, one of those big US car giants. It held the purse strings at its two UK subsidiaries pretty tightly.
If the Government decides that it is going to throw some short-term millions into the two companies (now owned by the Indian industrial conglomerate Tata) you can bet there will be strings attached.
Those strings might suggest that the makers of giants like the Jaguar XJ limousine and the Range Rover 4x4 invest some of the money in considerably more fuel efficient vehicles.
The best that Jaguar can do at the moment often sits outside Nottingham’s Council House in the shape of the Jaguar XJ 2.7 diesel that the Lord Mayor hoofs around in. In a market where rivals like Lexus already offer a hybrid petrol-electric barge it's a bit off the pace.
May be Nottingham’s Mayor will ask for a Jag with a Government-funded plug next time the civic limo gets replaced.
UPDATE: How come Jaguar and Land Rover need UK Government money if their owner, Tata Group, is about to spend money on this?