RE: Ford prepares to sell Jaguar?
Friday 4th August 2006
Jaguar XKR: company saviour?Could Jaguar be sold off by troubled owner Ford?
Is Ford ready to sell Jaguar?
Blue Oval reviews worst-performing brands
Jaguar XKR: company saviour?
According to one report, Ford has appointed a Wall Street investment banker, Goldman Sachs (GS) mergers and acquisitions investment banker Kenneth Leet, to review its worst-performing brands -- of which Jaguar is one. The banker will report directly to company boss Bill Ford Jnr.
While Ford has always denied that it has plans to sell Jaguar -- which is causing difficulties as the iconic carmaker continues to haemorrhage cash -- it would be foolish if it didn't look into the possibilities of selling loss-making assets. According to Business Week: "Ford is facing the reality that its market share and profit outlook is falling much faster than it can possibly bring new products to market."
Recent history suggests that Ford is not shy of taking action where necessary. It closed Jaguar's Browns Lane plant in Coventry -- which it called home for half the 20th century -- in 2004 following a loss by Jaguar of £430 million. Jaguar has taken a financial bath after low sales of the X-Type and S-Type -- Jaguar's two remaining plants made just 90,000 units in 2005 although they were geared for 200,000. However, Jaguar may have won a reprieve following healthy sales of the XK.
That said, some argue that Jaguar may even be better off as an independent, making low-volume, specialist cars for the wealthy. There's more detailed analysis in the BusinessWeek article -- see link below.
Discussion
I'd have seriously been tempted into a Jaguar by now if it wasn't for all the nasty Ford switch gear inside the X and S types. I really love the look of the S-type.
It's a shame that these two models by Jag are little more than glorified Fords. Take a look inside the XJ and see the difference.
Jaguar needs to be utilised as a premium brand and Ford seem to be incapable of doing this.
And just because Jag were making a loss for years before Ford took over excuses nothing. The X and S type Jags could easily have been huge money makers for the firm but Ford seemingly haven't allowed Jag to make them into the glorious cars they should be.
It's a shame that these two models by Jag are little more than glorified Fords. Take a look inside the XJ and see the difference.
Jaguar needs to be utilised as a premium brand and Ford seem to be incapable of doing this.
And just because Jag were making a loss for years before Ford took over excuses nothing. The X and S type Jags could easily have been huge money makers for the firm but Ford seemingly haven't allowed Jag to make them into the glorious cars they should be.
All IMHO.
I believe that all the time Ford owns Jaguar there will be a conflict of interests which will adversely affect the decisions on how to spec / manufacture the Jaguar branded cars.
Look at the XK. Its a great car but i'm sure they have to be a little conservative with it to it doesn't step on the toes of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
With the X type it is far too easy to use common parts from the Mondeo (which isn't necessarily bad) but i feel will effect the quality of the X type and also the sector its aimed at.
I think it is hard to focus Jaguar with such a huge brand like Ford who owns Volvo, Mazda, Aston Martin etc.
If Jaguar wasn't worried about treading on the toes of its 'partner' brands or utilising common platforms from the others i feel it could once again become a premium Saloon / GT / Sports Car manufacturer..
My 5p worth..
Look at the XK. Its a great car but i'm sure they have to be a little conservative with it to it doesn't step on the toes of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
With the X type it is far too easy to use common parts from the Mondeo (which isn't necessarily bad) but i feel will effect the quality of the X type and also the sector its aimed at.
I think it is hard to focus Jaguar with such a huge brand like Ford who owns Volvo, Mazda, Aston Martin etc.
If Jaguar wasn't worried about treading on the toes of its 'partner' brands or utilising common platforms from the others i feel it could once again become a premium Saloon / GT / Sports Car manufacturer..
My 5p worth..
Jaguar on it's own will struggle, unless Ford are prepared to take a BIG bath on selling it.
Why? Because it's in a market against BMW, Merc, Audi and Lexus...all either very big or very profitable car companies...who have greater purchasing power and economies of scale as a result. And who have access to cheaper financing too, more importantly - a solo Jag Cars is going to have REAL trouble getting decent loans to invest in new products, as it's going to be seen as a bigger risk.
There are 3 possible futures:-
1) Status quo. Jag struggles on under Ford, never being 'let off the leash', but at least able to keep developing new machinery.
2) Sold to another big car group. Jag could go any which way here, depending on the intentions of the buyer. But who would buy? Not Daimler-Chrysler, BMW, VAG, Porsche or Toyota, as all own direct competitor brands. GM are in bigger financial trouble than Ford, so wouldn't want Jaguar. Which leaves the Koreans (Chinese?!?), Honda (won't buy), Nissan/Renault (possible...be surprised, but there's no conflict), PSA (again possible but surprising), or smaller players who won't have the cash or capital.
3) Sold to a private group/buyer without big-car-co resources. Jag ditches X-Type and becomes niche-car maker again, but struggles to achieve the same depth of engineering as it's better-funded competitors. Sales decline further until Jag becomes more like Morgan, selling only XJ and XK from Castle Brom.
Why? Because it's in a market against BMW, Merc, Audi and Lexus...all either very big or very profitable car companies...who have greater purchasing power and economies of scale as a result. And who have access to cheaper financing too, more importantly - a solo Jag Cars is going to have REAL trouble getting decent loans to invest in new products, as it's going to be seen as a bigger risk.
There are 3 possible futures:-
1) Status quo. Jag struggles on under Ford, never being 'let off the leash', but at least able to keep developing new machinery.
2) Sold to another big car group. Jag could go any which way here, depending on the intentions of the buyer. But who would buy? Not Daimler-Chrysler, BMW, VAG, Porsche or Toyota, as all own direct competitor brands. GM are in bigger financial trouble than Ford, so wouldn't want Jaguar. Which leaves the Koreans (Chinese?!?), Honda (won't buy), Nissan/Renault (possible...be surprised, but there's no conflict), PSA (again possible but surprising), or smaller players who won't have the cash or capital.
3) Sold to a private group/buyer without big-car-co resources. Jag ditches X-Type and becomes niche-car maker again, but struggles to achieve the same depth of engineering as it's better-funded competitors. Sales decline further until Jag becomes more like Morgan, selling only XJ and XK from Castle Brom.
egomeister said:
I could easily see the french buying Jag if it were to be sold.
Large french cars don't enjoy the same premium image as BMW/Merc/Audi/Jag so in my mind it would be a great fit for Renault or more likely PSA, giving them a premium brand to exploit that market.
Large french cars don't enjoy the same premium image as BMW/Merc/Audi/Jag so in my mind it would be a great fit for Renault or more likely PSA, giving them a premium brand to exploit that market.
Aren't they largely funded by the French Government? I can't see the cheese eating surrender monkeys wanting to bail out Jag.
splatspeed said:
jaguar are loosing customers to one thing
reliability
fix that or the company dies
reliability
fix that or the company dies
I suspect you are going to be slaughtered by somebody before long so I'll get in quick with a tip. Check all major reliability and customer satisfaction surveys and amend previous statement before a jagophile bites your head off.
Darth Dave said:
egomeister said:
I could easily see the french buying Jag if it were to be sold.
Large french cars don't enjoy the same premium image as BMW/Merc/Audi/Jag so in my mind it would be a great fit for Renault or more likely PSA, giving them a premium brand to exploit that market.
Large french cars don't enjoy the same premium image as BMW/Merc/Audi/Jag so in my mind it would be a great fit for Renault or more likely PSA, giving them a premium brand to exploit that market.
Aren't they largely funded by the French Government? I can't see the cheese eating surrender monkeys wanting to bail out Jag.
I wouldn't see it as bailing them out but a good strategic fit with their current product ranges. I can't remember which is partially government owned - Renault i think?
I said:
We've discussed this many times in our sales meetings and they way we think Jaguar should go is this:
- Bin the X-TYPE. Don't replace it.
- Shut Halewood (and sell it, or let Land Rover have it).
- Take back 50% of the Jaguar Dealers in the UK and close them. (preferably Stratst**es).
- Reduce production of the new XK & XJ.
- Bring out the revised 'S-TYPE' ASAP.
- Develop a small 2 seater sports coupe for circa £35-45k (and make it ing brilliant).
- Launch a hardcore version of the XKR.
- Stop advertising 0% finance and all that crap, if the product is desirable enough you won't need loss leaders like that.
Ultimately, (in my opinion), Jaguar need to go back to their grass roots. Desirable, affordable, fantastic cars with a small volume and high profitability.
- Bin the X-TYPE. Don't replace it.
- Shut Halewood (and sell it, or let Land Rover have it).
- Take back 50% of the Jaguar Dealers in the UK and close them. (preferably Stratst**es).
- Reduce production of the new XK & XJ.
- Bring out the revised 'S-TYPE' ASAP.
- Develop a small 2 seater sports coupe for circa £35-45k (and make it ing brilliant).
- Launch a hardcore version of the XKR.
- Stop advertising 0% finance and all that crap, if the product is desirable enough you won't need loss leaders like that.
Ultimately, (in my opinion), Jaguar need to go back to their grass roots. Desirable, affordable, fantastic cars with a small volume and high profitability.
From the other thread.
hendry said:
Renault Nissan would be favourites I would say, assuming that the current courtship with GM comes to nothing.
Who would be more interested in an X-Type if it a 350Z engine in it?
Not me.
I'd be more interested if they'd make the 3.0 V6 avec mahoosive supercharger as a kind of RS4/M3 competitor.
hendry said:
Renault Nissan would be favourites I would say, assuming that the current courtship with GM comes to nothing.
Who would be more interested in an X-Type if it a 350Z engine in it?
Or a new XKR with a new Nissan GTR engine (probably V8 Twin Turbo) in it, then Nissan could stop faffing about with psuedo luxury brands like Infinity.
On the plus side if Jaguar gets sold then they wont have to hold back on power, so they will be able to blow the AM V8 into the weeds
Mmmmmmmm.....not sure about some of these ideas.
Jaguar is now so integrated with Land Rover under the PAG banner that trying to oust Jag from the infrastructure (same sites, suppliers, support networks etc.) without imapct LR is not an easy thing to do. Probably talking about 5 years to execute that type of action. Make no mistake, Ford would not want to get rid of LR at this present time, too bouyant to consider selling the brand to a creditor.
Problem is, Jag don't have the cash flow to finance new car development so what gets to market is essentially watered-down and commonised with the rest of the Ford brands. Not such a bad thing, making the x-type largely from Mondeo components is what any smart engineer would do - there's not difference in the quality of a metal bracket that goes on a Rolls-Royce than that which goes on a Fiesta. Generally, developing say the Ford Focus will cost much more than developing an S-Type: Get the Focus wrong and you're truly f---ed. The success of the Jag brand is connected with Ford's own commercial problems.....how do you know that the Jag isn't being used to balance numbers from Ford or that costs are being allocated back to Land-Rover.
Making a desirable car isn't the solution to Jag's financial worries....(the new XK8 is superb and will compete very well in it's market)....the most important model in the jag line-up is their business model (sic).
Jaguar is now so integrated with Land Rover under the PAG banner that trying to oust Jag from the infrastructure (same sites, suppliers, support networks etc.) without imapct LR is not an easy thing to do. Probably talking about 5 years to execute that type of action. Make no mistake, Ford would not want to get rid of LR at this present time, too bouyant to consider selling the brand to a creditor.
Problem is, Jag don't have the cash flow to finance new car development so what gets to market is essentially watered-down and commonised with the rest of the Ford brands. Not such a bad thing, making the x-type largely from Mondeo components is what any smart engineer would do - there's not difference in the quality of a metal bracket that goes on a Rolls-Royce than that which goes on a Fiesta. Generally, developing say the Ford Focus will cost much more than developing an S-Type: Get the Focus wrong and you're truly f---ed. The success of the Jag brand is connected with Ford's own commercial problems.....how do you know that the Jag isn't being used to balance numbers from Ford or that costs are being allocated back to Land-Rover.
Making a desirable car isn't the solution to Jag's financial worries....(the new XK8 is superb and will compete very well in it's market)....the most important model in the jag line-up is their business model (sic).
Phil Hopkins said:
I said:
We've discussed this many times in our sales meetings and they way we think Jaguar should go is this:
- Bin the X-TYPE. Don't replace it.
- Shut Halewood (and sell it, or let Land Rover have it).
- Take back 50% of the Jaguar Dealers in the UK and close them. (preferably Stratst**es).
- Reduce production of the new XK & XJ.
- Bring out the revised 'S-TYPE' ASAP.
- Develop a small 2 seater sports coupe for circa £35-45k (and make it ing brilliant).
- Launch a hardcore version of the XKR.
- Stop advertising 0% finance and all that crap, if the product is desirable enough you won't need loss leaders like that.
Ultimately, (in my opinion), Jaguar need to go back to their grass roots. Desirable, affordable, fantastic cars with a small volume and high profitability.
- Bin the X-TYPE. Don't replace it.
- Shut Halewood (and sell it, or let Land Rover have it).
- Take back 50% of the Jaguar Dealers in the UK and close them. (preferably Stratst**es).
- Reduce production of the new XK & XJ.
- Bring out the revised 'S-TYPE' ASAP.
- Develop a small 2 seater sports coupe for circa £35-45k (and make it ing brilliant).
- Launch a hardcore version of the XKR.
- Stop advertising 0% finance and all that crap, if the product is desirable enough you won't need loss leaders like that.
Ultimately, (in my opinion), Jaguar need to go back to their grass roots. Desirable, affordable, fantastic cars with a small volume and high profitability.
From the other thread.
i agree with that mostly - but look i am about to buy a new car in the range up to 150.000.-- Euros and the Aston V8 Vantage compared to the new XK looks better finished in quality terms and at least it has A LOOK unlike the new XK it doesnt really make me say: *WOOW GREAT CAR*. unlike when i bought my first XK in 1996 i REALLY wanted the car right now !
Edited by XXXAngelXXX on Friday 4th August 13:01
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