Ford to sell Jaguar, Land Rover

King Nothing · 13-06-2007, 10:23 AM

Well they have gone and done it now...

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/...414275348.html

Quote:

Ford considers Jaguar, Land Rover sale: report

Ford Motor has given Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley and HSBC Holdings plc a mandate to sell Jaguar and Land Rover, its two British luxury brands, the Financial Times reported in its electronic edition.

The planned sale does not include Volvo, Ford's third premium marque, and is said to be in its early stages, the report said.

The news follows persistent speculation that Ford, which sold the Aston Martin sports car marque to a Kuwaiti-led consortium in March, might look to unload the two brands as part of its drive to create a more streamlined and competitive volume car business.

The US company, which reported a record loss of $US12.7 billion ($15.1 billion) last year, is in the midst of its "Way Forward" restructuring plan, aimed at restoring its competitiveness and returning its core North American operation to profitability in 2009.

Ford may have an easier time selling its two British brands to private equity investors than a rival carmaker, the report said.

photn · 13-06-2007, 11:09 AM

as long as they leep making fords im happy!

ClevlndStemer · 13-06-2007, 11:20 AM

Jaguar was just sucking money out of Ford, it was continually making massive losses and to be honest I am glad they rid of it;. Pity they sold Aston though, was making money. As long as they keep Volvo i am happy (rumours had it it was for sale but Ford and Volvo denied it).

S3SR · 13-06-2007, 12:48 PM

didnt Ford buy land rover because they didnt want some other mob ruining the name or something???

i stopped caring after they sold aston martin.....hope it pays out for ford

vztrt · 13-06-2007, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClevlndStemer

Jaguar was just sucking money out of Ford, it was continually making massive losses and to be honest I am glad they rid of it;. Pity they sold Aston though, was making money. As long as they keep Volvo i am happy (rumours had it it was for sale but Ford and Volvo denied it).

Yeah cause they dont use JAG R&D on their other models.....

Bossxr8 · 13-06-2007, 06:55 PM

Pretty vague story, doesn't really confirm it or not. Maybe just selling a percentage of it and keeping a portion, like they did with Aston Martin. I think they still kept 15% to keep their finger in the pie.

With the recent sway away from SUV's due to oil prices and global warming concerns maybe its a good time to get out of Land Rover.

nugget378 · 13-06-2007, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

With the recent sway away from SUV's due to oil prices and global warming concerns maybe its a good time to get out of Land Rover.

Not to mention between them and Jag they were the two most unreliable makes ever,yes even more so than Trabant and Lada

70caprigt3k · 13-06-2007, 07:05 PM

As long as they keep Volvo its all good.

Eaturbo · 13-06-2007, 07:09 PM

This new guy Alan Mulally running Ford In america that was at boeing is really switched on and i think he is right. Ford is big enough to survive with just itself Volvo and maybe 1 more. The most important part of Ford is Ford and thats what they are concentrating on. I think this is the road to recovery and they are in intentsive care and will be moved to the general ward soon. Also the sale of these will generate money to keep them moving forward with new models to respark interest in america.

sleekism · 13-06-2007, 07:15 PM

Hopefully Ford is building a war chest and not just making a quick buck.

Ford desperately needs the money to invest in new cars and engines.

The big three in America are still paying for sitting on their asses during the 80's while Japan went crazy.

bob^ · 13-06-2007, 07:38 PM

The bloke in charge isn't scared of selling things off, or closing down factories outside and in the US. I just hope Ford Australia doesn't fall victim to him...

Bossxr8 · 13-06-2007, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob^

The bloke in charge isn't scared of selling things off, or closing down factories outside and in the US. I just hope Ford Australia doesn't fall victim to him...

They are trying to figure how to leverage the Falcon platform outside Australia. One of the big wigs from Detroit is touring the facilities down here next week, trying to find a place for the Falcon and possibly the Territory overseas, wether that be exports or platform sharing. They don't want to waste the valuable resources we have down here. Also with 1.8 billion dollars being invested here they need to get that investment back.

ltd · 14-06-2007, 01:38 AM

I know for a fact that ford USA are very interested in the new FPV territory that will hit our dealers in a couple of months, a hero model that appears frugal is just what they need. 270kw and 550Nm for a territory; bye bye daewoo/chev/holden craptiva.
A mate that used to fly passengers with me now works at Atlas air cargo and actually took a total of 12 vehicles over to LAX including the one in the orion pictures in the USA. The steel thing you see it on is for loading on the power loaders and in the AC. Didn't look at it (covered up), but they had to pick it up in Melb with a whole bunch of other covered up cars on pallets bound for ford USA in Detroit. At the time he thought they were American cars tested here. Ahh, the wisdom of hindsight.

MeestaNob! · 14-06-2007, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eaturbo

This new guy Alan Mulally running Ford In america that was at boeing is really switched on and i think he is right. Ford is big enough to survive with just itself Volvo and maybe 1 more. The most important part of Ford is Ford and thats what they are concentrating on. I think this is the road to recovery and they are in intentsive care and will be moved to the general ward soon. Also the sale of these will generate money to keep them moving forward with new models to respark interest in america.

I'd be shattered if they lost Jag (not as worried about Land Rover, I guess its an emotional response).

If Ford stick with Volvo and Mazda, they have a chance. If they go...

sleekism · 14-06-2007, 07:12 PM

As long as they keep Mazda, Ford is safe

Flouro_Joe · 14-06-2007, 07:14 PM

Good, as long as they hold onto Mazda and get rid of Land Rover their quality rating should go up.

phillyc · 14-06-2007, 07:22 PM

Land Rover is a profitable business and their sales are booming. Regular people are suffering from higher petrol prices but the top end of the market certainly isn't.

Jaguar is getting much closer to making a profit and definitely heading in the right direction both from a product but also ideological point of view. They did try to ramp up sales from 50,000 a year to 200,000 a year. It didn't work. They have now decided to dump the base X type (mondeo based) Jaguar and are now concentrating on more profitable model line/mix. ie This is the large luxury XJ Saloon, luxury XK Coupe/Cabriolet and the forthcoming midsize XF model Jag with very modern styling.

Both marques are now far and away better built than when they took over and offering superior product. Customer satisfaction is excellent.

Selling both as a combined offering makes sense due to LR being profitable and Jag not. They will get better money.

Ford with Volvo and Mazda makes sense. Together they can successfully cover Europe, Asia and America. These can platform and drivetrain share.
Think Fiesta, Mazda2.
The Focus, Mazda3, Volvo C30/S40.
The Mondeo, Mazda6.

As for Ford, Mercury and Lincoln in the US. They could really do with the Falcon / Territory either as imports or via platform technology.

dave351cid · 14-06-2007, 07:51 PM

they must think that owning the jag and landrover name/ factories is an expencive liability.
the same as most people that own one of the cars start to think after they get the first couple of repair bills.