REPORT: Ford sells off former PAG headquarters in Irvine
Not long ago, Ford's Premier Auto Group was filling the halls of a big office building in Irvine California. In recent years, Aston Martin, Land Rover and Jaguar were sent packing, and Lincoln dragged itself back to Detroit, leaving the halls lonely for sole survivor Volvo, which is also headed back to Rockleigh, New Jersey.
Rather than pay for a constantly emptying building, Ford has sold its Premier Auto Group HQ to Transpacific Company. The $73 million dollar deal removes a liability from Ford's balance sheet, although Ford had already been leasing space to Taco Bell's parent company. The fast food corporation will move its headquarters to the Irvine, California building in 2010. So it goes as Ford divests itself of properties and restructures.
Although we have yet to receive official confirmation, word is that the big weekly Cars & Coffee meetup that happens in Mazda's parking lot nearby will continue. Thanks for the tip, Will!
[Source: The Los Angeles Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Senseiwalex 6:35PM (6/04/2009)
I was worried I wasn't going to be able to keep going to the cars and coffee meets anymore!
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zamafir 7:27PM (6/04/2009)
seriously, i don't care about anything but C&C and it's continuation.
Tool 8:40PM (6/04/2009)
That's too bad that Taco Bell is moving. I remember going over to the cafeteria at Taco Bell corporate HQ and getting some cheap subsidized lunch there.
Randy 12:53PM (6/05/2009)
@Tool
I feel for ya.. I used to go into the Coca Cola plant near my work and buy cokes out of the machine for a dime. That ROCKED!!! Nobody ever questioned why some dude in a Mustang (at the time) was parked in front of the bay doors with the car running, putting sodas in a duffle bag! ROFL I did it twice! heh...
Mike 6:41PM (6/04/2009)
I always wondered what the did in that building when i drive by it. Still don't understand what they did here being so far from Detroit.
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zamafir 7:29PM (6/04/2009)
Um, they gave us an oddly frosted glassed box to poo in when we had too much donuts and coffee.
Oh and a west coast HQ for PAG. It's been fun watching different emblems getting ripped off the low lying stations along the freeway one by one.
LDMAN 1:58AM (6/05/2009)
They enjoyed the California Sun and pretended to be tapping the creative vibe of the place. Frankly, I think one of the top Ford guys was into Surfing (Mark F...) and he needed an excuse to hit the West Coast swell from time to time.
laser 6:46PM (6/04/2009)
Good move, Ford. Small potatoes in overall monetary value, but this continues to demonstrate a coordinated plan for recovery instead of a plan for bankruptcy.
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jpm100 7:04PM (6/04/2009)
I don't see where you get that conclusion. GM kept selling assets to stave off the inevitable.
mnemonicj 11:48PM (6/04/2009)
@jpm100, Yeah, but Ford mortgaged a lot of their stuff when it was actually worth something. GM is trying to sell and mortgage stuff when the economy is in the crapper so no one is paying the prices they did 3 or 4 years ago. Government Motors is selling because they have to, not because it is smart to do so. Smart would have been 3 to 4 years ago when Ford mortgaged their stuff.
Also, I think Ford is selling this place now because all of the former Ford companies have moved out of it and keeping a place like this running costs, over time, as much as the place itself.
jpm100 2:07AM (6/05/2009)
Ford mortgaged their stuff because they had to as well. The smart thing was Malully getting all the cash at once instead of piecemeal to execute restructuring. That good move in terms of restructuring turned into a lucky move as the credit market disappeared. Lucky because no one had global banking fraud in the their business plan.
But, Ford is still actively borrowing billions with the help of the TALF program. And like all the automakers, it still actively hemorrhaging money. Money that was intended for restructuring is being used to stay alive.
Yikes 9:17AM (6/05/2009)
And all those Banks holding the mortgages on all of Ford building, equipment, factories, patents, logos......are expecting to be paid back. Ford is still bleeding read, offering zero percent financing and huge cash on the hood to move product.
At some point Ford is going to need to figure out how to make a dollar selling automobiles. Ford doesn't have much left to sell. Perhaps Volvo and Mazda are next.
Merritt Johnson 7:05PM (6/04/2009)
Is it going to be cars and breakfast borritos now?
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VW GTi 7:06PM (6/04/2009)
Taco Bell will rule the world. That talking Chihuahua was just a distraction in their master plan.
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Motor_Yakuza 7:41PM (6/04/2009)
Mexican food sucks. May the ZEN be in your food.
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Matt 9:03PM (6/04/2009)
Does this mean Taco Bell will start producing overpriced junk...like Land Rover and Jag?
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Motor_Yakuza 6:28AM (6/05/2009)
Taco Bell is already producing junk.
John 8:18AM (6/05/2009)
I'll take a Jag or Land Rover over anything in your garage....
Matt 8:48AM (6/05/2009)
Good. I don't want to give up the Ferrari.
Todd 10:27PM (6/04/2009)
An interesting fact that not many here probably know of is that Taco Bell's original headquarters in Irvine is the site that Mazda's current R&D building is located at. I believe it was in the early 80's they moved to their current location. And now they are moving back next to Mazda which is kind of funny.
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