Filed under: Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover
Final bids for Jaguar, Land Rover between $1.5 and $2.2b
Ford's year-end sales event isn't limited to your local dealership, as news came down the wires today that the final bids for Jaguar and Land Rover have been submitted by India's Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and One Equity Partners, a private equity firm. The Economic Times and Hindustan Times are both citing separate figures, with the former reporting the bid between $1.5 and $2b, while the latter pumps up the both figures to $1.7 and $2.2b. But what's $200 million between friends, right?
Regardless, those numbers are somewhat in line with what Merrill Lynch analysts predicted the two automakers would fetch in the market, and according to sources close to the transaction, Ford will be considering the bids later next week.
[Source: Reuters]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Avinash machado 8:10AM (12/06/2007)
I thought Mahindra had dropped out of the bidding several weeks ago.
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VP 8:56AM (12/06/2007)
Maybe if they win Mahindra & Mahindra will sell their proposed diesel SUV's & trucks in landrovers dealerships here in the U.S
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RobC 10:22AM (12/06/2007)
Why is ford selling these brands?
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Joe 11:00AM (12/06/2007)
1 - Ford needs the cash to complete their restructuring, which is finally starting to net some profitability.
2 - Both brands have been poor performers over the past several years, and I don't think either have turned a profit for Ford in over 5 years.
3 - Ford wants to get back to having core competencies, rather than having an empire with different niches. Jag and LR aren't contributing a significant amount of technology, as they're technology sinks. Mazda and Volvo, on the other hand, are technology innovators, and much of their technology is being incorporated into Ford/Lincoln/Mercury vehicles. The Fusion/Milan/MKZ/Edge/MKX is based on the Mazda6 platform and the Taurus/Sable/X is based on the previous generation Volvo S80 platform.
RobC 11:08AM (12/06/2007)
Is 2.2 Billion really that much. It seems in the auto industry perception counts for something. How much do they spend on marketing? Jag and LR are at the high end, so yes they may not provide a lot in profit but surely there is some synergy in the marketplace associating them with Ford. Although who knows, maybe that's overrated.
trevor2k 2:25PM (12/06/2007)
Joe,
Land Rover has done quite well since 04, while Jag has continually slid. The problem is that LR and Jag are tied at the hip when it comes to corporate, production, and retail. If LR had been offered solo, it would have done quite well, but with Jag as an anchor, not too many wanted to step up to the plate.
500 9:52PM (12/06/2007)
Seems that LR by itself should be worth far more than $2 billion. I thought I had heard an estimate a couple years ago of about $9 billion. So basically this deal values Jaguar at like $-7 billion or so?
jamie 11:02AM (12/06/2007)
RobC - "Why is Ford selling these brands?"
Precisely! BIG MISTAKE.
Yeah, Billy Boy needs the money and Ford doesn't need to be saddled with European unions right at the present. Or do they?
Lincoln - Mercury will take eons to escalate to the worldwide recognition stature of Jaguar - Land Rover. Over the long haul Jaguar and Land Rover will outperform Lincon - Mercury far into the future hands down no questions asked.
I would drop Lincoln - Mercury and replace the franchise with Jaguar - Land Rover instead. Much better economics here.
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RobC 11:14AM (12/06/2007)
Marry me?
Tool 11:34AM (12/06/2007)
You would think that based on the financial performance of these two brands--especially Jaguar--over the past five years that Ford would be glad to get rid of them at any price.
Besides the Jaguar XJ and XK, the Land Rover Range Rover and maybe the RR Sport, these brands stink.
Hopefully Jag and LR will go to someone who knows how to keep these brands strong and exclusive instead of watering them down.
On a different note, the really sad thing is that Ford has to dump these in the first place. The auto industry is moving towards premium brands. The fact that they continue to hold on to Lincoln Mercury at all means that this Moving Forward restructuring, now in its 3rd or 4th reiteration, still isn't working.
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akatsuki 12:10PM (12/06/2007)
Sure Jaguar and LR have better name recognition, but they also require massive resources to take advantage of that recognition, resources that Ford just doesn't have.
Sure Lincoln-Mercury are garbage too, especially Mercury which has nothing to offer, but badge engineering is cheap. Ideally, I think Ford should have basically kept:
Mazda- sporty small European-styled cars (don't bother Americanizing them at all)
Ford
Volvo- near luxury and premium SUVs
Jaguar- high end luxury.
Problem is that Jaguar is a hungry cat and would require massive investment.
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Tool 1:01PM (12/06/2007)
I agree.
You could eliminate Mercury entirely since it is primarily a badge-engineered series of Ford vehicles. The trick, of course, is to keep those 150,000 units and not lose Mercury customers to the competition, like what happened with Oldsmobile. However, I suspect that this is more analogous to Chrysler dropping Plymouth. Mercury wouldn't be missed and they will probably stick with the blue oval.
Then fold Lincoln under the Ford brand, with 2-3 premium products at $35-45,000 and make it a marque with a separate showroom like what Toyota does with Scion. Dealers would then have to sign franchise agreements to sell Lincolns a certain way and keep the marque somewhat upscale; at least as much as you can do inside a Ford dealership.
That way Ford could still keep the volume of Lincoln, keep the traditional American luxury buyer and not lose (much) market share in the transition.
Vincenzo 12:32PM (12/06/2007)
It was written that the Indian companies were really interested only in Land Rover. So, Jaguar will die.
It would be nice to see $5000 Land Rovers made for off-roading and to be real work horses. The luxury SUV market is going to die.
The Indians still produce $50 English 3-speed bicycles. It's a much better thing than a crappy Walmart bike.
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Ebm14 Inc. 4:20PM (12/06/2007)
Ford should make these companies into equal partners
instead of selling it entirely Patel Brothers. The Indians
might have the cash, but Ford is going to kill their reputation entirely buy telling the world they need cash.
What stock holder would want to invest if they don't have confidence in their management?
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Sam 4:44PM (12/06/2007)
interesting the luxury british marquees are only moving between the colonies. But tata motors owning Jaguar? I'll never buy one again.
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lalaland 5:55PM (12/06/2007)
Wait...the $1.5 billlion to $2.5 billlion is how much Ford is paying these guys to take Jaguar and Land Rover off their hands, right? Just like BMW paid that group of Englishmen to take Rover off their hands? It's The English Patient, the sequel.
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