Ford says Jaguar brand 'Not For Sale' (Maybe)
Speculations that Ford Motor Co. may be selling its Jaguar brand may have been lessened, if not outright stricken, during a seminar at the Center for Automotive Research in Michigan. Ford President of the Americas Mark Fields, who spoke at the seminar, suggested the luxury marque would be repositioned as a "niche brand" which would sell fewer, but more profitable vehicles. This is similar to Porsche' strategy and a recapitulation of Ford's redirection of Jaguar since 2004. However, Fields did not state Ford has unequivocally ruled out any sale of the brand.
More details can be found at the article. Your thoughts are requested in the comments.
Related:
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Would the sale of Jaguar involve Land Rover, too?
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Jaguar X-type days numbered?
[Source: The Birmingham Post]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
_O ^ O_ 10:17AM (8/11/2006)
The Return on Investment here is seriously lacking; you dont need an MBA to see that.
How many billions will it take to transform this brand, how many billions will it lose before it turns a profit (if ever), and can it stay profittable long enough to recoup all the billions invested into it (and before Ford files for Chapter 11)?
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All World Automotive 10:27AM (8/11/2006)
You know in a situation like this, you kinda want to rout for Ford, but when your struggling the way it is, how much are you willing to invest in something that may bring down the rest of the ship while trying to save it.
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Rene Curry 10:28AM (8/11/2006)
As a last gap effort I would put all the British PAG vehicles under one dealership roof and market them all together. You need to push the British heritage, styling and the differentiate them from American, German, and Japanese cars.
I think it could work.
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Sean 10:40AM (8/11/2006)
The media and other commentors have overblown Fords position. I dont feel that Ford is going to file for Chapter 11 anytime soon, and I think that keeping Jaguar is a good thing.
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Takeo 11:14AM (8/11/2006)
#4, Sean, you're not looking at Ford's books, you cannot say that with any sort of authority.
Funny I think it would be better for Jaguar to be sold to someone else who is more focused. I don't think Ford ownership has been good for Jaguar, where it has been for Volvo and Mazda.
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richard elsbree 11:28AM (8/11/2006)
I suspect Mark Field's latest comments have to do with the fact that nobody
has shown the slightest interest in buying Jaguar. In fact when the Russians
state, flat-out, that they are not interested, you know you are in trouble.
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Gardiner Westbound 11:33AM (8/11/2006)
Everything is for sale, at the right price.
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Daniel 11:57AM (8/11/2006)
Why not align Jag and Land Rover more closely? Their bottom of the barrel quality rating signals their need for attention. LR's vehicles might be selling better but for how long? I don't think gas prices will affect them too much, but the poor quality will over time.
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Shawn 11:58AM (8/11/2006)
It's amazing that how far the media/bloggers have ran with this story when Ford never even offered Jag for sale.
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John 12:02PM (8/11/2006)
Yes everything is for sale at the right price. I don't think repositioning Jaguar as a lower capacity producer is a bad idea. Hopefully they'll make it work. They don't need to recoup the billions they've already lost - they're gone. If they do hold onto it they will want it to make money, even if it is smaller amounts.
Hopefully they'll get rid of the X-type although I wonder how the S-type fits in.
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Chris 12:07PM (8/11/2006)
I think they're going to wait and see how the new cars fare before any serious talk takes place. Ford already has alot of sunk cost of development into a new S-Type and a re-styled XJ. So they may as well wait and see how they do. Remember when BMW sold Ford Land Rover just before the new Range came out? Now Land Rover actually turns a profit and has the LR3 as a very competent vehicle to slot below it and the new LR2 looks good too.
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Paul Read 12:07PM (8/11/2006)
Just for the record, LR has quality rating problems, not Jaguar (JD Power).
A lot of Land Rover's problems stem from the transition to from BMW engines and the accompanying software incompatibilities. They can be fixed and to be honest, LR does have a lot of ground to make up.
Luckily for them, the new LR2/Freelander 2 is being made at Halewood, that last year received the J.D. Power and Associates European Plant Quality Gold Award.
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Christopher 12:10PM (8/11/2006)
Ford's original strategy to try and sell Jaguar to the masses was a huge miscalculation, and the new strategy to make it a niche brand is exactly where it needs to be. Jaguar needs to be a relatively small volume marque that produces beautifully-designed cars that are fun to drive and luxurious as hell.
If they want to sell a cheaper Jag, sell a sports car, not an ugly Mondeo clone. The Porsche Boxster is a prime example of an entry-level luxury brand car that isn't a piece of rebadged garbage.
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Richard Warren 3:21PM (8/11/2006)
#7 You got it!
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Doug 4:12PM (8/11/2006)
"Jaguar needs to be a relatively small volume marque that produces beautifully-designed cars that are fun to drive and luxurious as hell."
Sounds just like Aston Martin. Why does Ford need to keep funding both, especially when they're ignoring their own products (Focus, Crown Vic, Town Car, Ranger, etc.) and getting killed by the competition? I think it's because Ford execs don't want to give up their Jags and Land Rovers and be seen driving grandpa's Lincoln/Mercury.
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Steve 4:55PM (8/11/2006)
What Ford's future strategy should be:
1. Kill mercury and make Lincoln a limo (Town Car and another 6-door stretched version) brand
2. Kill Jaguar and keep Land Rover
3. make volvo a mainstream lux brand.
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gordon 7:33PM (8/11/2006)
I love the idea of jaguar. I love what jaguars look like, I love other modern relevant british brands but I don't like their current lineup. The baby jags look horrible and I don't want one, the big cats look like ugly versions of their classics. It is totally possible to make a fabulous smaller jaguar but you have to actually do a good job of it.
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G 10:09PM (8/11/2006)
Aston Martin is a niche company under the PAG umbrella and it posted a profit recently for the first time in the company's history. There is no reason why Jaguar cannot follow Aston's lead. But the lineup does need to change.
http://www.automobilesdeluxe.blogspot.com
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I.p.Freely 10:54PM (8/11/2006)
Ford lack focus... No pun intended.
Jags should be just XK and XJ...
Get rid of X-Type, it might be the best selling Jag, but it has none of the Jag's feel. And resources spent on this can be better used to make XK and XJ that much better.
S-Type... get rid of it as well, in it's place create a 4 door XK or Short wheel based high performance XJ.
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