08-04-2006, 12:59 PM
Ford Ponders Jaguar's Future
The Daily Auto Insider
Thursday, August 3, 2006
August 2006
Ford has hired a team of outside analysts to assess and evaluate its assets and brands, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The team's first job is a review of Jaguar, a loser for Ford since it was acquired in 1989 for $2.6 billion. Jaguar is dragging down the performance of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, which also includes Volvo, Aston Martin and Land Rover. PAG lost $162 million before taxes in the second quarter, compared with a pre-tax profit of $17 million a year earlier, the story said.
Beset by many problems, Jaguar's sales have tanked in recent years. They are down 30% so far this year after falling 34% in 2005. The brand is on pace to sell 24,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2006, down from 45,000 in 2004.
Jaguar sales also are down globally. In the first half of this year, Jaguar sold about 41,000 vehicles globally; in all of 2004, it sold 118,000. Ford has acknowledged that its former strategy to sell 200,000 or more Jaguars annually is ââ¬Åout the window,ââ¬Â the story said.
This despite an injection of $2.09 billion by Ford to cover Jaguar's heavy losses and investment write-downs, and moves by Jaguar to stem its losses, including shutting down auto production at a historic plant in Coventry, England, and pulling out of Formula One auto racing.
The Daily Auto Insider
Thursday, August 3, 2006
August 2006
Ford has hired a team of outside analysts to assess and evaluate its assets and brands, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The team's first job is a review of Jaguar, a loser for Ford since it was acquired in 1989 for $2.6 billion. Jaguar is dragging down the performance of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, which also includes Volvo, Aston Martin and Land Rover. PAG lost $162 million before taxes in the second quarter, compared with a pre-tax profit of $17 million a year earlier, the story said.
Beset by many problems, Jaguar's sales have tanked in recent years. They are down 30% so far this year after falling 34% in 2005. The brand is on pace to sell 24,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2006, down from 45,000 in 2004.
Jaguar sales also are down globally. In the first half of this year, Jaguar sold about 41,000 vehicles globally; in all of 2004, it sold 118,000. Ford has acknowledged that its former strategy to sell 200,000 or more Jaguars annually is ââ¬Åout the window,ââ¬Â the story said.
This despite an injection of $2.09 billion by Ford to cover Jaguar's heavy losses and investment write-downs, and moves by Jaguar to stem its losses, including shutting down auto production at a historic plant in Coventry, England, and pulling out of Formula One auto racing.