END OF PAG?

dustychelsea SG

Ford has appointed Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to investigate selling its British premium brands Jaguar and Land Rover. The move effectively signals the end of the Blue Oval's PAG division.

Officials have refused to confirm or deny the sale, but have outlined to MPs the deal which will spin off Jaguar and Land Rover, but retain Volvo in the Ford family. Ford sold Aston Martin, PAG's sports car brand, to a private equity partnership earlier this year.

No bidders for Jaguar/Land Rover are confirmed yet, but Fiat Auto denied it was in the frame, and Renault-Nissan has also distanced itself from reports it was interested. Alchemy Partners, the venture capitalists who nearly bought MG Rover back in 2000, is also a contender.

Former Ford of Europe boss Martin Leach said he expected private equity companies as the most likely bidders, which raises fears over the 19,000 employees in the UK. 'The two businesses have not been profitable for some time; the deal will most likely include some downsizing,' he told the BBC's Today programme.

Ford is desperate to make progress in its recovery programme after losing $12.7 billion last year. The Aston Martin sale raised £479 million and a combined Jag/Aston sale could swell Ford's coffers further.

Although Land Rover is in a healthier financial state than Jaguar, it is seen as almost impossible to separate the two brands, which is why Ford is considering bundling them together in a joint sale. The companies share many back-office functions, engineering units and even manufacturing at the joint Halewood plant in Merseyside.

Although Ford doesn't break down the results of its individual brands, the Premier Automotive Group suffered a bigger pre-tax loss last year, losing $327m compared with $89m in 2005. Selling off Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin would effectively trigger the end of PAG.

alleggerita SG

Aston Martin already sold off FYI..haha..and now it's Jaguar and Land Rover..I don't mind Ford dissolving PAG and selling away Jaguar and Land Rover, I just hope they get a good new owner and not some buyer who only look at Jaguar and Land Rover as money-making machines instead of as a car manufacturer..if they don't get a good owner, Jaguar and Land Rover will be doomed.. Crying or Very sad

Kuali Baba SG

Ford ruined Jaguar when it allowed Jaguar to go mass market. Hopefully the new owners will put things right, but the damage is already done.

Pitot SG

hopefully it dosent follow in rover's footsteps. Not china. Laughing

SBS9828X SG

Ford is turning the tide, starting with the upcoming S-Type replacement

alleggerita SG

Hard to turn the tide la..they ruined Jaguar quite badly..everybody who drives the older S-Type or X-Type will complain about the Ford switchgears littered all over the cabin..wonder why didn't Ford let Jaguar do it's own job and instead let then use Ford's parts-bin..and the quality of plastics used in the cars quite bad too..Jaguar used to be comparable to Mercs, BMs, Audis blah blah blah..now can't compare liao..sad.. Crying or Very sad

dustychelsea SG

Jaguar going to make the new facelifted XK Coupe/Convertible to replace the S-Type. The XK going to adopt the same rotary drive selection from the C-XF concept car that is being shown at this year Detroit Motor Show. The same drive selection will also be use on the XF Saloon. This will replace the traditional J-gate selector with the flat alloy transmission plate that will contain a flush-fitting dial. This dial rises out of the plate when the ignition is turned on and can be rotated to control the PRND functions. 'Sport' mode is one of the four buttons located behind the dial; the other three switches select ASL(Automatic Speed Limiter), Traction control and Stability control. After the XF and the facelifted XK, the all new XJ Saloon is also expected to use the same drive system as part of continued efforts to modernise the brand's image. The XF interior will use bespoke switchgear not derived from any existing Ford cars. It will use components from other Jaguars, including the XK'S Steering Wheel as well as a revised Infotainment System

Kuali Baba SG

Good. They need to make truly inspiring cars again, not diesel X-type estates that have zilch to do with ‘grace, space and pace’.

dustychelsea SG

Cerberus, the private equity firm that bought Chrysler in May, has held talks with Ford management about the possibility of buying Jaguar and Land Rover.

Ford executives have said that the talks were inconclusive, and that no offer has been made for the British firms.

Ford would like to sell the companies as a pair they share components and manufacturing facilities but would be willing to split them.

However, we can see few synergies between Chrysler and either Jaguar or Land Rover. Jeep and Land Rover both produce four-wheel-drive vehicles, but that's about as close as it gets.