RE: Jaguar is not for sale: official
Monday 30th October 2006
Jaguar XK: helping to save the companyJaguar is safe -- for now.
Jaguar is not for sale: official
Blue Oval to focus on improving the company
Jaguar XK: helping to save the company
According to a story in the Financial Times, the role of the troubleshooter, who was employed to help sort out troubled Ford's finances and identify bits of the company that could be disposed of, has been scaled back.
The former Goldman Sachs banker will now focus instead on getting the sale of Aston Martin right. Ford announced on 1 September that it would sell the iconic marque in order to help stabilise its shaky financial situation -- and the AM sale will go ahead, although no buyers have yet officially been announced.
But Ford's new boss Alan Mulally told the FT that all the analysis showed that the best thing for Ford was "to turn Ford around", rather than sell off the rest of its major assets.
Ford now has four priorities, according to Mulally:
- To cut production capacity in line with eroding market share
- To accelerate the development of cars and fuel-efficient light trucks
- To secure the company's finances
- To eliminate barriers to communication within the company.
He said that Ford's recent investments in Jaguar and Land Rover were paying off. "We're very pleased with the progress", he said.
Discussion
:smale: Thank goodness for (mostly) common sense! It takes years to turn a brand like Jaguar around into a leading presitge brand. As I see it they took the cars, developed the technology and made them competitive but were recently at a stage where the styling (intended to retain exisiting Jaguar customers initially) held back the modern image they needed. Now we are seeing that new image come through, give it 5-7 years at most and Jaguar will be fantastic in looks as well as technoology and build!
Although how much selling AM will help Ford is anyone's guess??
Although how much selling AM will help Ford is anyone's guess??
Aston Martin are a profit making well established company once again, therefore if sold it will attract a good price, Jag wouldn't until it gets on it's feet, so I think Ford are basically doing the hard work and letting a buyer have it easy (at a higher price). Makes sense when you think of it like that, but personally I'd like the reap the rewards of my hard work not sell it on when I got it.
Whilst I agree it would be nice if Ford could give Jaguar the money and time that it needs to push its way back to the forefront of the prestige segment, unfortunately Ford has serious financial problems of its own.
And Jaguar has been a black hole sucking money, time and resources out of Ford. Time to sell I think, the only problem will be finding someone that wants to take her on.
I feel that Ford needs to get back to the core business of making Fiestas, Mondeos, Foci etc and making them well and at a suistainable profit margin.
Which it has been failing to do for the last decade.
I think that Jaguar has had enough money poured into and now it is time to cut her free. Don't get me wrong - I think that the recent Jags (XJ and XK) have been great and I would love to see Jaguar continuing under the Ford banner. But Jaguar either needs to move all the way upmarket and forget about the bottom end - which could be an option if AM is sold off. Or get a decent replacement for the X type and the S type onto the market and sell them in sufficient volume to make a profit.
Personally I think the whole Premier Automotive Group was a complete white elephant and sidetracked Ford away from core business.
Jac Nasser has a lot to answer for - KwikFit; need I say more?
And Jaguar has been a black hole sucking money, time and resources out of Ford. Time to sell I think, the only problem will be finding someone that wants to take her on.
I feel that Ford needs to get back to the core business of making Fiestas, Mondeos, Foci etc and making them well and at a suistainable profit margin.
Which it has been failing to do for the last decade.
I think that Jaguar has had enough money poured into and now it is time to cut her free. Don't get me wrong - I think that the recent Jags (XJ and XK) have been great and I would love to see Jaguar continuing under the Ford banner. But Jaguar either needs to move all the way upmarket and forget about the bottom end - which could be an option if AM is sold off. Or get a decent replacement for the X type and the S type onto the market and sell them in sufficient volume to make a profit.
Personally I think the whole Premier Automotive Group was a complete white elephant and sidetracked Ford away from core business.
Jac Nasser has a lot to answer for - KwikFit; need I say more?
[quote=g77]I feel that Ford needs to get back to the core business of making Fiestas, Mondeos, Foci etc and making them well and at a suistainable profit margin.
Which it has been failing to do for the last decade.
The problem doesn't lie with the european Ford lineup, more the outclassed outdated(huge SUV'S) American lineup, where the Japanese with smaller, well built, economical vehicles are thrashing the detroit dinasaurs on the car lot. Ford needs to sort Ford America, it's the Titanic, no good getting rid of the potential financial lifeboats (PAG group and Ford Europe) if the major ship is sinking fast. Ford and GM management appear to have learnt nothing from their own history when the oil crisis of the early 70's killed their then dinasaurs the muscle car!, now its the SUV, (30 years apart similiar spec, heavy, huge engines, poor mpg, basic design) history repeating itself, the last time the japanese got a foothold in the US market, this time they may well put the final nail in Detriot!
Which it has been failing to do for the last decade.
The problem doesn't lie with the european Ford lineup, more the outclassed outdated(huge SUV'S) American lineup, where the Japanese with smaller, well built, economical vehicles are thrashing the detroit dinasaurs on the car lot. Ford needs to sort Ford America, it's the Titanic, no good getting rid of the potential financial lifeboats (PAG group and Ford Europe) if the major ship is sinking fast. Ford and GM management appear to have learnt nothing from their own history when the oil crisis of the early 70's killed their then dinasaurs the muscle car!, now its the SUV, (30 years apart similiar spec, heavy, huge engines, poor mpg, basic design) history repeating itself, the last time the japanese got a foothold in the US market, this time they may well put the final nail in Detriot!
dominicf said:
[quote=g77]I feel that Ford needs to get back to the core business of making Fiestas, Mondeos, Foci etc and making them well and at a suistainable profit margin.
Which it has been failing to do for the last decade.
The problem doesn't lie with the european Ford lineup, more the outclassed outdated(huge SUV'S) American lineup, where the Japanese with smaller, well built, economical vehicles are thrashing the detroit dinasaurs on the car lot. Ford needs to sort Ford America, it's the Titanic, no good getting rid of the potential financial lifeboats (PAG group and Ford Europe) if the major ship is sinking fast. Ford and GM management appear to have learnt nothing from their own history when the oil crisis of the early 70's killed their then dinasaurs the muscle car!, now its the SUV, (30 years apart similiar spec, heavy, huge engines, poor mpg, basic design) history repeating itself, the last time the japanese got a foothold in the US market, this time they may well put the final nail in Detriot!
Which it has been failing to do for the last decade.
The problem doesn't lie with the european Ford lineup, more the outclassed outdated(huge SUV'S) American lineup, where the Japanese with smaller, well built, economical vehicles are thrashing the detroit dinasaurs on the car lot. Ford needs to sort Ford America, it's the Titanic, no good getting rid of the potential financial lifeboats (PAG group and Ford Europe) if the major ship is sinking fast. Ford and GM management appear to have learnt nothing from their own history when the oil crisis of the early 70's killed their then dinasaurs the muscle car!, now its the SUV, (30 years apart similiar spec, heavy, huge engines, poor mpg, basic design) history repeating itself, the last time the japanese got a foothold in the US market, this time they may well put the final nail in Detriot!
I agree with the statement that Ford North America's over dependance on SUVs is the critical problem but don't forget the huge production over capacity that exist in the USA. These two factors are a direct result of the laziness of the Ford management during the times when things were good and SUVs were selling.
But it has only been recently that Ford of Europe actually returned to making a profit. Whilst the problems in Europe are less than in the US; FoE is still sailing very close to the wind. Hopefully the SMax, Galaxy and the new Mondeo will increase the market share ans increase the safety margin.
At the moment PAG figures are included in Ford NA's not Ford of Europe - which goes some way to explain the large loss posted but the US in the third quarter.
PAG is not a self sustaining business; it has always lost money - either due to LR or Jaguar; and we are talking billions here not millions.
And if the Yanks concentrate further time and resources on PAG to try and turn it aound and it doesn't work........well I hope that the American government would never allow Ford to go under.
I can see why Ford are hanging onto LR, Volvo and Jaguar. Land Rover must surely be poised to make major profits. There has been huge investment in both product and manufacturing facilities. Jaguar, on the other hand, has also invested heavily, but made a major error with the outdated styling of it's cars and cheapening of an already precarious brand with rebodied Mondeos/Lincolns. Jaguar bosses should be given a huge kick up the derriere for making losses when the company should be making substantial profits.
Volvo is showing how it should be done, with a good range, and a good image (Volvo customers seem more accepting of Ford underpinnings, perhaps because the cars are now better for it) . However, Ford Cars is in an awkward position. The vehicles are perhaps too good for the market in which they sell. It seems we Brits (and an increasing percentage of Europeans) would rather buy 'premium' vehicles when we have the cash, and cheap imports when we do not. Which is a pity, because in my view Ford cars are good and deserve better (excluding the new Focus). However, let's not forget that market positioning is the very reason they bought LR/Volvo/AM/Jag in the first place - as a way of entering the premium segment.
Volvo is showing how it should be done, with a good range, and a good image (Volvo customers seem more accepting of Ford underpinnings, perhaps because the cars are now better for it) . However, Ford Cars is in an awkward position. The vehicles are perhaps too good for the market in which they sell. It seems we Brits (and an increasing percentage of Europeans) would rather buy 'premium' vehicles when we have the cash, and cheap imports when we do not. Which is a pity, because in my view Ford cars are good and deserve better (excluding the new Focus). However, let's not forget that market positioning is the very reason they bought LR/Volvo/AM/Jag in the first place - as a way of entering the premium segment.
Reasons that Ford are unlikely to sell Jaguar is because as a commodity to sell, it is worthless. Quoted by one of the industry experts at Warwick University. A new investor into Jaguar would in effect be buying the debt, as per the good old Rover deal at Longbridge, then sub letting most from Ford, reference my next point.
They would then have to structure away from Land Rover. The two companies are deeply linked, in the use of its processes, staff, resource, facilities and least of all its component sharing.
It all gets very complicated inside the PAG organisation, with Volvo, Mazda, Land Rover and Jaguar all linked in their DNA - platform sharing, technology, components.
Aston Martin has never been brought fully into the Ford environment, even the processes used by AM are still specific to AM not Ford generic processes.
Aston Martin would provide a cash injection as it is now turning a reasonable profit, fresh model line up and very desirable.
Ford has historically protected its US workforce and status, to the detriment of FORD Europe. In truth, Ford US have been letting the side down, leaking money, poor product and not downsizing to match their reducing US Market Share - Head in the Sand Syndrome.
They would then have to structure away from Land Rover. The two companies are deeply linked, in the use of its processes, staff, resource, facilities and least of all its component sharing.
It all gets very complicated inside the PAG organisation, with Volvo, Mazda, Land Rover and Jaguar all linked in their DNA - platform sharing, technology, components.
Aston Martin has never been brought fully into the Ford environment, even the processes used by AM are still specific to AM not Ford generic processes.
Aston Martin would provide a cash injection as it is now turning a reasonable profit, fresh model line up and very desirable.
Ford has historically protected its US workforce and status, to the detriment of FORD Europe. In truth, Ford US have been letting the side down, leaking money, poor product and not downsizing to match their reducing US Market Share - Head in the Sand Syndrome.
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