Ford hires banks to sell Jaguar, Land Rover

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Ford Motor has given Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC a mandate to sell Jaguar and Land Rover, its two British luxury brands.

The planned sale does not include Volvo, Ford's third premium marque, and is said to be in its early stages.

The news follows persistent speculation that Ford, which sold the Aston Martin sports car marque to a Kuwaiti-led consortium in March, might look to unload the two brands as part of its drive to create a more streamlined and competitive volume car business.

Ford is understood to be selling the two brands jointly because of the significant overlap of their operations.

The US company, which reported a record loss of $12.7bn last year, is in the midst of its "Way Forward" restructuring plan, aimed at restoring its competitiveness and returning its core North American operation to profitability in 2009.

Ford may have an easier time selling its two British brands to private equity investors than a rival carmaker.

Fiat Auto on Monday denied reports that it considered buying the two brands. Renault also denied a report that it was interested in buying the brands.

A spokeswoman for Alchemy Partners denied a newspaper report that the private equity group was lining up a £3bn bid to buy the brands. Alchemy had been interested in Jaguar and Land Rover, she said, "but only at the emotional level".

Alchemy had not spoken to anyone about Ford's sale of the two marques, she added.

Ford's Premier Automotive Group, which owns Volvo, Jaguar and Aston Martin, saw its pre-tax loss last year widen to $327 m from $89 m the previous year.

Ford does not report on the individual brands' financial results, but Jaguar is understood to have accounted for much of the loss. Despite a buoyant world market for luxury cars, the brand's portfolio has struggled against its competitors.

A spokesman for Premier Automotive Group declined to confirm or deny what he called "speculation" about the sale.

Ford, which lined up a $23bn financing package to see it through its restructuring late last year, has repeatedly denied immediate plans to sell the two brands. When Aston Martin was sold in March Lewis Booth, PAG's head, said: "Jaguar and Land Rover are not for sale."

Reply to
Doorbell
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This is really disappointing, it hurts me to see Land Rover being tossed around from BMW to Ford to whosnext. It's not only sad, but I think it hurts LR's image as well. On the other hand I can't say I was happy with the direction the company had taken the last few years. Fair enough, big, luxurious tarmac-oriented SUVs are all the rage and that's where there was money to be made, but I think that in order to maintain your credibility you still need your "Best 4x4xFar" not being neglected like that. Ok, new Defender's finally out but I feel like the only things they've changed is the engine and the dashboard.

The really worrying part is now, what will the company's new owner do to it, keep it as a respectable vehicle manufacturer or just get richer plundering it and then passing it (yet again) to someone else?

On the other hand , I couldn't help thinking about Fiat's legendary reliability record (or lack thererof) of earlier times, being combined with that of Land Rover's....

Geo

Reply to
Geo

"Doorbell" wrote (big snip)

BMW requested sight of the "Books" of Volvo earlier in the year which infers a possible buying situation.

Now..

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One gets the impression Ford management are running around like headless chickens.

Reply to
Bob Hobden

Bob Hobden uttered summat worrerz funny about:

I reckon we should have a whip around at the next unofficial.. we could then jack in work and drive around all day testing the latest model.. from one unofficial to the next, spreading the word of the green oval.

What engine would we like to see in the future Defender and Disco? Then maybe we could plant a seed in the minds of that company.

I've had to sell my IIa having been outdone in the "fit a different brand engine" competition. :-)

Lee.

Reply to
Lee_D

In news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net, Lee_D wittered on forthwith;

Heh.

I think the supercharged V8 would be perfect. NO diesels though.

sheesh.

Reply to
Pete M

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