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Tagg @ Mar 25th 2008 3:46PM
Hooraay!!! Finally this is over and Ford will be able to dump these two pointless money pits and actually get something for them!! Now Ford has some money to put into marketing for customer research that will lead to new product. Pair that with the new labor contract and things might start to roll a little for them.
It will be intersting to see how long TATA will hold onto Jaguar because many industry analysts say TATA only wanted Land Rover.
Out of curiosity does anyone think that this sale will make GM take a look at dumping their own money pit SAAB? It seems that SAAB has done very little under GM and seems to be more trouble than its worth.
British_Rover @ Mar 25th 2008 4:13PM
Do you realize that Land Rover made over ONE BILLION dollars last year even when combined with the small 100ish million dollar loss from Jag? The loss at Jag will be even smaller last year and if the XF does well Jag might actually make a profit. Land Rover sales will be up globally but most likely flat in the US. There isn't any new product to launch in the US and since the US is a mature market Land Rover will have a tough time topping last years record sales.
A couple of billion dollars extra for Ford doesn't really do much for them and if they really had to dump 1.2 billion into LR/Jag to cover pension shortfalls.
British_Rover @ Mar 25th 2008 4:17PM
Meant to say he loss at Jag will be even smaller next year obviously
LDMAN @ Mar 25th 2008 5:26PM
Part of the blame for the state of Jaguar lies with Ford/PAG/Reitzler/20+ years mismanagement/X-Type Mondeo Fiasco.
The US$ 1 Billion nail in the coffin X350 (XJ) can be attributed to Jag's inbred Brit/Midland culture as in "We make cars for our dwindling/aging base of customers. Damn the rest. We know better."
Tata will probably hang on to Jaguar for PR reasons but will "lease" it to Alfa and any other manufacturer looking for technology / platform, etc...
Most of the Rover (Leyland) top guys are already working for Cherry, NAC, etc... I predict that some of the Top Jag guys will ultimately get top jobs in China, Turkey or India (Marutti, Koch, Tofas, etc..).
Land Rover? Land Rover made plenty of cash for Ford. However, the LR brand as we knew it is dead (b*lls out Camel Trophy replaced by Metrosexual G4).
Let's from now on talk solely about RR. That is where the money is and will be.
Luxury good are pretty impervious to market conditions. Only hurdle is to get the CAFE/EU CO2 numbers down in the future. That could be achieved by selling more small engines in the US, EU OR merging with a high volume low CO2 Manufacturer hence the potential tie up with Alfa, Fiat, and Tata combined speculations in the press.
Hybrid, Aluminum, start/stop technology will help.
Land Rover might disappear with Defender. LR2 and LR3 are not proper LR nor are they proper Range Rovers. They are mutants in between LR and RR.
The Range Rover, RR Sport, RR Mini, RR LRX Tart whatever will live on and make money for Tata.
Tagg @ Mar 25th 2008 9:17PM
I am not trying to be a jerk but please show me where Land Rover made over $1 billion. From what I have Ford usally doesn't post individual brand profits or losses.
Regardless, Ford was never going to recoup the amount they put into Jag so and the best way to get rid of it was to pair it with a brand that made money.
Here is an article from late December that illustrates the point I was making.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7154286.stm
British_Rover @ Mar 26th 2008 11:21AM
Easy enough to do just search on Google for Land Rover 1 billion Profitable.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/report-jaguar-and-land-rover-now-profitable.html
Someone leaked the info and the UK magazine Just Auto picked it up. Even before that story though top gear had an article claiming the same thing back in the fall. The figured Land Rover made between 500 million and 1 billion dollars. I can't find the Top Gear Blog post anymore so it might be too old but you can try looking for it on Top Gear's website.
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN0817107620070108
Older article for you to see.
and another
http://www.caradvice.com.au/9583/jaguar-and-land-rover-profitable/
Tagg @ Mar 26th 2008 6:13PM
Fair enough, but Ford also put alot into Land Rover and the line-up is aging. Ford does not have the money or time to redo a small volume brand while the bread and butter brand needs the attention and resources more.