Ford retains KPMG to have a look at Jag's and Rover's books
Ford isn't wasting any time or taking any chances with the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover. The Blue Oval has hired accounting firm KPMG to go over the English carmakers' books to get them in shape for sale. Specifically, KPMG is tasked with getting the automaker's financial paperwork ready for examination by potential buyers, and to give "a clear picture of Jaguar and Land Rover's performance as businesses separate from the influence of Ford." KMPG's duties will also include looking at the companies' pension liabilities. Through it all, Ford has still not declared outright whether it actually intends to sell the brands.
[Source: The Times Online via Auto News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brackie 9:04AM (6/25/2007)
Well we know that Land Rover is doing well...jaguar not so well...However, jaguar does have the XF coming this year so they could do well out of it yet.
Ford's problems with jaguar also mirror that of the mother company itself. They never replace the cars quick enough. The days when you could have a car out in the market for 8 years or more are long gone. You need a redesign every four years. This is probably one of the reasons why the Japanese do as well as they do.
Ford has completley squandered a very sexy brand. Jaguar could have been fantastic..but no F-Type, S_type nearly 10 years of age...XJ handicapped with old retro styling...FWD/4WD X-Type...The list of blunders is endless. Even the otherwise handsome XK8 has been hurt slightly by its Grille and headlamps..New nose please.
Jaguar Could have been a true success story....Maybe it still will but the sand is running out...
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Fady 9:07AM (6/25/2007)
Yay, KPMG baby, that's my firm... just one note...it's an auditing firm, not an accounting firm, we are technically not allowed to do any client's accounting... you know, independence and all that junk :)
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Mr. Oak 9:45AM (6/25/2007)
I worked for KPMG back in '99 as a consultant.
Ok. I really don't think Ford micro-managed as much as they should have. Being that you're writing the checks and all. Ford rebuilt their entire infrastructure, oversaw the 1000-fold increase in reliability of their cars (Gone are the days of Lucas "The Prince of Darkness"). Jaguar to the best of my knowledge is responsible for their product line.
Let's start at the bottom. Remember that X-Type? Now the Mondeo in drag wasn't even close to being the best in it's class, but it was a foot in the door. They should have a follow-up car on the board the day that car was released. Look at the CTS, it is the car that helped breathe new life into Cadillac. The 3-series BMW's bread and butter car. This is the hottest segment Luxury/Near Luxury car matket. Jag dropped the ball. Everything else they had to offer were catered to the snooty upper class British folk.
Hello Jaguar:
Look and the market, all the players in the Luxury car game has a bread and butter model that allows them to offer the other Land Yachts that they build.
Audi - A4 - A6
Acura - TL
BMW - 3-Series
Cadillac - CTS
Infiniti - G35
Lexus - E350
Mercedes may be one of the few that sell more of their Larger cars than the smaller ones, at least here in the US.
Jaguar the cars you build may work fine for your domestic market. On the world stage, they're getting killed.
BTW: Cost is not the issue, I'm willing to bet that Bentley sold more Continentals that cost twice as much here in the US than you sold XJs.
gwballin 10:20AM (6/25/2007)
KPMG is more than an auditing firm. Their tax practice, for example has had their share of government sanctions for illegal tax shelters, but they still exist.
Tater 12:05PM (6/25/2007)
And this is EXACTLY why Jaguar has failed under Ford ownership. Consultants building cars.
Alex 10:03AM (6/25/2007)
agree with poster #1.
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Brandon 10:31AM (6/25/2007)
Part of the problem is Ford's insistance on selling Jaguar and Land Rover as a package. I think if they were willing to sell them separately they would have a much easier time finding buyers.
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Cam 4:31PM (6/25/2007)
Ford can't exactly sell Land Rover and Jaguar seperately because of the fact that the share some components, they definately share the same manufacturing plants and that means if they are sold apart, new factories will need to be built
The Dearborn Observer 2:46PM (6/25/2007)
I was a powertrain planner for Jaguar in the late 1990s.
Jaguar is pretty much responsible for their product lineup, but there were constraints. When Wolfgang Reitzle ran PAG, he knew Jaguar needed a 3 sedan lineup. He wanted a small (i.e. BMW 3-series) RWD platform, but was told all he could have was a version of the FoE Mondeo, the result; the X-type.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad car, but it just did not have a competitive powertrain with the 3-series, C class, or the A4. I personally believe that the other main reason for the X-type's failure was the "tradional" styling which was purely the product of Jaguar design. The day it was launched, it looked 10 years old to me.
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Steve 3:40PM (6/26/2007)
Jaguar has been operating autonomously for all these years since ford bought it.
I often find it amusing and aggravating when idiots like brackie (post number 1) virulently blame ford for squandering jaguar.
Jaguar had all the resources of Ford at its disposal. Money, engineering, technology, everything.
Jaguar failed because of its often lack of focus and effort. In fact, jaguar's quality which rivaled yugo and fiat perhaps even worse, went dramatically up after being acquired by Ford. How did that happen?
Because jaguar gained access to Ford's engineering and manufacturing. There would be no jaguar had Ford not bought it.
Instead of being grateful to Ford, we hear this utter nonsense, total damn rubbish that Ford ruined Jaguar.
Another idiocy is that Jaguar ruined itself by going downmarket with X-type. The truth is, BMW, porsche, bentley, Benz, all are just as blue-blooded or higher than jaguar and they all went downmarket.
Bmw with 3-series, benz with C-class, porsche with boxster and cayman, bentley with continental-gt. They were all sucessful.
The question is why Jaguar failed.
Ford is always made the scapegoat because thats's the easy way. So there is no need to work hard and attempt to solve the problem. Just blame Ford and everything will be explained.
The real reason why Jaguar failed is the lack of work ethics. No discipline, no capacity to innovate, and an inclination to receive largesse from Ford, and defraud the customer by duping them into badly engineered, badly designed product.
This receipt of ill-gotten money is what is haunting jaguar. Sadly, Jaguar and Land rover are irrelevant in today's world. The days of style but no substance are gone. And so must Jaguar and Land rover.
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