Ford wants Jag/Land Rover sold by October, Volvo by 2008

The New York Times is reporting that Ford is expecting to wrap up its sales of Jaguar and Land Rover by September 30, and of Volvo by the start of winter. Fresh off its shedding of the majority of Aston Martin, Ford has made the decision to rid itself of a majority of shares in the other premium brands under its corporate halo. The legal and financial people have already started working on the bidder information packets, according to Times sources.

While the Jag/Rover sale has been public for a little while, it wasn't until just last week that Ford publicly acknowledged it was looking for bids for Volvo, which they've controlled since 1999. Jaguar was purchased in 1990 and Land Rover a decade later in 2000. Among the bidders for Jag/Rover are recent Chrysler Group buyer, Cerberus Capital Management, as well as TPG and Tata Motors. Although BMW has been mentioned as a possible suitor for Volvo, it's still too early in the process to get a list of names together.

[Source: NY Times via just-auto, sub. req.]

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