For(d) Sale: Land Rover & Jaguar

A couple of days ago we learned about the secret talks between Ford and Fiat for the possible sale of Jaguar and Land Rover that were called off after several months of negotiations. While Ford denied commenting on the talks, the US automaker did confirmed recent reports that have been spreading like a wildfire on the internet that it’s discussing the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

Yesterday (Tuesday June 12, 2007) Ford’s spokesperson, John Gardiner, told the Free Press that the US carmaker has been reviewing the operations of both British luxury brands for a year. “Ford Motor Co. has been assessing a number of strategic options for all of our operations. That review is continuing and Ford is actively investigating its options. We’re not ruling anything in or anything out and we are working with our financial advisers to determine the best future for Jaguar and Land Rover.”

Bloomberg among others is reporting that Ford has gone one-step further by hiring Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley to arrange the sale of European-based Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo luxury brands. Practically we’re talking about the end of Ford’s PAG (Premium Automotive Group) that started with the sale of Aston Martin back in March to a British-led group of investors for the equivalent of about $924 million. Funny thing is that with the exclusion of Jaguar that’s been economically bleeding Ford for the past 17 years, Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin are all profitable. But who’d buy Jaguar by itself?

Via: Freep & Bloomberg