Ford is working hard to unload Jaguar and Land Rover, and unlike Aston Martin deal, the Oval wants to be completely out. While Ford kept a small stake in Aston just like Daimler did with Chrysler, whoever buys the other two British brands will have to take everything.
Ford's European boss, Lewis Booth, spoke in Frankfurt this week and told reporters that the company wants final bids by the end of September and the deal closed by the end of the year. According to Booth, Ford needs the cash and wants to rid itself of distractions from its core businesses. Evidently, it feels that keeping a stake might be no better than keeping the whole thing, and it would still ultimately be responsible for what happens to the two companies.
[Source: Detroit News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
John P. @ Sep 13th 2007 3:13PM
It's taking years for Ford to undo so many of it's mistakes of resent history, but this is good news. Both of these need to go quickly.
iQuack @ Sep 13th 2007 3:20PM
Makes sense to dump losers, and Jag/Land Rover are losers for Ford.
A neighbor just bought a new Land Rover LR-2, and it's a very impressive vehicle. Practical and looks great, too.
Chris Kz @ Sep 13th 2007 3:49PM
Thats because the LR2 has a fair amount of Volvo parts. Engine, transmission, many interior parts from Volvo. I've got a POS Freelander and had an LR2 as a loaner. Even my 6 year old daughter noticed the rear center armrest in the LR2 is identical to the rear center armrest in my 2005 Volvo S40. Can't wait for the Volvo XC60 comes out.
J C 3 @ Sep 13th 2007 3:28PM
BMW should buy them.Jag could be sold at their Rolls dealers as a plush luxurious competitor to Mercedes and BMW car could be more for the german sports sedan purist.
lovice @ Sep 13th 2007 4:30PM
What?! Ford bought Land Rover from BMW, just in case you forgot!!!
gary @ Sep 14th 2007 7:24PM
last time bmw spent millions on a British styled car (rover) they lost billions and sold the company for $1. why would they want to touch jag
mooj @ Sep 13th 2007 3:35PM
core business of doing what, exactly? manufacturing crap?
rejoice. we will now get crap that they have mulled over extra hard.
i think they should sell off ford NA, and focus on Jag and Land Rover. Perhaps Ford Europe/Australia as well.
AnonyMust @ Sep 13th 2007 3:43PM
Chinese food.
Dave @ Sep 13th 2007 3:43PM
Possibly a good call.
If the CO2/global warming hysteria continues, Jag and (especially) Land Rover will only devalue.
Also, Mazda and Volvo have contributed to the quality of Ford products while Jag and Land Rover have little to offer FoMoCo.
Abhi @ Sep 13th 2007 3:45PM
Good move by Ford, both of these brands have been crap for a while .. jag has had some bright spots and really great service but crap on the whole. LR on the other hand is really really expensive crap that can only be fixed at LR. Good riddance i would say if i was a stock holder.
Polly Prissy Pants @ Sep 13th 2007 3:45PM
Good riddance to these dumpwagen producing marques. The worst Ford will be far more reliable the the best Land Rover.
yenom @ Sep 13th 2007 3:47PM
This is a very good idea for Ford. They need to focus there attention to what they do best - selling mainstream cars. They are improving every year. But off loading and getting rid of Jag and Land Rover, they will be able to get back on their feet, and maybe one day buying out another luxury franchise.
Jag has too much competition right now. Its name plate is not what it used to be. Land Rover is fine, but as Dave said, unless they start to product more fuel efficient SUV's, they won't be selling much now a days.
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TriShield @ Sep 13th 2007 3:56PM
Good news, so when are they finally going to close Mercury? Out of all the brands Ford has, that one far and away has the least amount of appeal or equity.
Tagg @ Sep 13th 2007 11:40PM
According to the Automotive News its a few years away. A couple weeks ago they published a future product schedule where it lists new, refreshed or redesigned product and after the Fusion, MKZ and Milan get refreshed for next year there was nothing for Mercury. It listed an all new Explorer (car based), new Taurus, new Escape (Kuga) as well as other non-shared platforms like a new F-150, Mustang, possible large RWD sedan and none of the Mercury Fords had any changes comming. It also listed quite a few plans for Lincoln like a new flagship sedan, sports coupe, Flex variant among others. So my guess is they will ramp up Lincoln's range so the dealers can sell the volume required to make a profit.
Same reason why GM has GMC, so Buick and Pontiac dealers have the extra truck volume.
Note: Automotive News gathers its info from the automakers, suppliers and dealers. Its not just all speculation like so many other publications.
DJ @ Sep 13th 2007 3:57PM
I once thought that the Jag/LR combo would be good in BMW's hands, but they have really expnded both their luxury and SUV lineups to the point they don't need them anymore. Better fits would be Renault-Nissan, which doesn't have a true luxury marquee or extensive SUV line, or VW. VDub could slide the two them in under Bentley to create a complete top to bottom luxury marque. It would also give them the ability to create the first $150,000+ SUV to offer Bentley owners
Alex @ Sep 14th 2007 10:33AM
Renault-Nissan would be a good fit.
VW would never happen. They already have Audi so they have no interest in Jag. Maybe LR but you can't get LR with out Jag.
Maestro1 @ Sep 13th 2007 4:04PM
I know that this isn't really the thread to post this, but I didn't know where else to put it...
Since more 'other' articles are popping up again, does that mean that all the cars that are meant to debut in Frankfurt have already done so, or are there more coming?
As I recall, the Detroit show debuted most cars within 3 days. Any info would be appreciated.
By the way I think Ford dumping Jaguar and Land Rover completely is a good thing, it'll let the companies all get back to their roots and focus on themselves more.
Sam Abuelsamid @ Sep 13th 2007 4:25PM
The Detroit show is the only major show that has three days of press previews. All the other big shows including Frankfurt are two days.
Maestro1 @ Sep 13th 2007 5:26PM
So does that mean that no more cars are coming out for debut (even production cars)? I mean the show runs till the 23rd...
Sam Abuelsamid @ Sep 13th 2007 6:24PM
That's all she wrote. You'll probably see a few more posts about some of the smaller and offbeat stuff over the next few days, but all the big stuff is out. Most of the important stuff was already shown before the show even started.