Ford's sale of Jaguar and Land Rover may be completed next week

[XDCX]

It appears that Tata Motors, Ltd. has secured the financing that it needs to complete the purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. The deal will likely be announced next week.

Once part of Ford's "Premier Auto Group" Jaguar and Land Rover failed to generate the sales/profits that Ford had hoped for. The ultimate fate of Volvo remains unanswered.

Here's a link to the Wall Street Journal Report: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1205...googlenews_wsj

[XDCX]

I wonder what Ford is doing with the office they built in Irvine, CA for the Premier Auto Group?

The office was built about six years ago when Ford wanted to have a California presence. All of the PAG brands were based out of that location.

If I recall correctly, Ford had the Lincoln/Mercury staff return to Detroit a few years ago. That would mean that after the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover the only people there would be Volvo representatives?

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by XDCX

I wonder what Ford is doing with the office they built in Irvine, CA for the Premier Auto Group?

The office was built about six years ago when Ford wanted to have a California presence. All of the PAG brands were based out of that location.

If I recall correctly, Ford had the Lincoln/Mercury staff return to Detroit a few years ago. That would mean that after the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover the only people there would be Volvo representatives?

According to Automotive News, Ford is looking for tenants.

Volvo is set to move out at the end of the year and Jaguar and Land Rover are expected to move shortly after the sale to Tata Motors is complete. That will leave the PAG facility mostly vacant.

Ford opened the facility with much fanfare in 2001. It's amazing how fast things have changed for the Domestic Manufacturers.

[XDCX]

Ford and Tata Motors have reached an agreement on the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover. Ford will net $1.7 Billion in the transaction - roughly 1/3rd of the original purchase price.

Even worse, the loss doesn't reflect the investment that Ford made into the two brands over the past several years or their negative impact on annual earnings.

As bad as it is, I still think that Daimler holds the record for the poorest investment with its "merger of equals" deal with Chrysler.

Here's a link to the news report: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...014/BUSINESS01

[XDCX]

It's estimated that Ford may have lost as much as $35 - $50 Billion on the Jaguar/Land Rover purchase when you factor in the annual losses each brand incurred and add the amount that Ford invested into product development, equipment, facilities, etc.

It's a staggering loss. It will be interesting to see if Tata Motors can success where everyone else has failed.

Here's a link to the article: http://www.thecarconnection.com/blog/?p=1036

[SHACOS]

Have you seen the vehicles Tata Motors makes? Hopefully they don't bring the same "expertise" to the Jaguar / Land Rover name.

http://www.tatamotors.com

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by SHACOS

Have you seen the vehicles Tata Motors makes? Hopefully they don't bring the same "expertise" to the Jaguar / Land Rover name.

http://www.tatamotors.com

It will be interesting to see how Tata Motors does with the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

India's economy is in full growth mode and Tata has done a great job of growing their operations. That said, for the last 40 years everyone that has tried to "fix" the Jaguar and Land Rover brands has failed.

It will be interesting to see what happens.