Ford will receive at least five buyout offers for its Jaguar and Land Rover divisions in the coming days, according to insiders. It will then narrow down to two or three suitors and begin a final round of bidding, which a Ford spokesman said will conclude by the end of the year.
“We are still looking at the end of this year or the beginning of next to conclude the process,” a Ford spokesman told the Reuters news agency. “We have been very impressed with the quantity and quality of bids made for the Jaguar-Land Rover business.
India’s Tata Motors, One Equity, Ripplewood, TPG, and Terra Firma are all expected to make bids over the weekend at the latest. Cerberus Capital — which owns Chrysler — is believed to have dropped out of the bidding.
Ford put Jaguar and Land Rover up for sale this summer. The two companies are likely to be sold as a package deal. Ford also sold its Aston Martin division earlier this year.
11/02, 10:35 AM
posted by:
jamaicandude
Oh, sell the damn things already. Can’t imagine Jag and LR being owned by Tata Motors though…
11/02, 10:44 AM
posted by:
A4
they should hold onto them and see how the new models do
11/02, 10:59 AM
posted by:
autonut
Unfortunately it is not about selling the models, but about economics of keeping them on the road: they cost arm and a leg to manufacturer to comply with their own warranty. It is not bad deal for dealers. They make more money off Jag/Rover on maintenance cost, then new lease/sales.
11/02, 11:20 AM
posted by:
mazdaman
I agree with jamaicandude. I am tired of hearing about Ford selling these brands. It seems as though this news item is recycled every time Ford does not have anything else newsworthy to release.
I also agree that I do not want to see Tata Motors get a hold of the duo. I am also glad to see that Cerberus has dropped out of the running; they have their hands full turning Chrysler LLC around. They do not need any distractions in this quest.
I am glad to see Ford is trying to unload these two brands. Ford simply does not have the resources to fix Jaguar, keep Land Rover going, and try to fix their ailing North American operations. I think a leaner Ford will be in a better position to attend to their issues and become competitive again. I hope the firm that receives Jaguar can advance the turnaround effort for this once great British brand.
11/02, 11:25 AM
posted by:
hockeygod1331
Agreed..i dont want to hear another word about this until something actually happens!
11/02, 11:33 AM
posted by:
Robert
The best is that all of these talks are private. So none of this is Ford releasing press. They don’t say “oh, it’s a slow week of news, so we’re going to talk about the Jaguar sale.” It’s all our media obsessed with stupid death and doom stories about the Big 3 and investors looking for quick and easy cash flow to boost their short-term investments.
They’re selling. It’s done. They will get about the equivalent of $6-7 billion for it when debt assumption is included unless they are VERY lucky. They will continue to advise and supply Jag and LR – they might even retain a significant stake. Let’s stop worrying about it and just wait for the announcement sometime around Christmas (can you imagine that Christmas present “Honey, I bought you Jaguar.” “Which model?” “No, the company. Oh, and they threw Land Rover in there as a door prize.”)
11/02, 11:39 AM
posted by:
SwerveEarly
It would be so sweet to see a company from a former british owned state buy two of Englands most recognized brands. Besides I think they actually have real Jaguars and lots of good off roading in India. These brands would be perfect as an Indian comany.
11/02, 1:18 PM
posted by:
F451
I dearly hope that both Jaguar and Range Rover find their way back to their British culture as they are in dire need of new direction. If they are acquired by anyone other than the United Kingdom you may as well hold funeral services.
11/02, 1:32 PM
posted by:
SwerveEarly
Range Rover needs to go back to making safari and off-road adventure vehicles like the Defender. I think they still sell it in parts of the world but not U.S. Brand the luxury utes as Jags.
11/02, 2:06 PM
posted by:
golf4me
Two or three suiters, my ass.! If they had even ONE, they’d have dumped them by now. I think FoMoCo should just be honest and say “these brands suck, and we are just going to cut out losses” and just eat the cost of shutting them down. They’d probably have more luck just selling the trademarks of each brand.
11/02, 2:07 PM
posted by:
golf4me
oops…out = our
11/02, 2:24 PM
posted by:
TomF
November2: “If they are acquired by anyone other than the United Kingdom, you may as well hold funeral services”?!?! Dude, if they ARE acquired by anyone IN the UK, that’s when you should print the funeral programs. The UK has destroyed each and every one of its own iconic brands: Rover, MG, Triumph, MINI… on and on.
The UK is noplace to design or, especially, build cars: UK work ethic and labor-culture issues are why Jags and Land Rovers are some of the worst-built, most-expensive-to-run vehicles in the world. They both would have collapsed long ago, like every other UK marque, if it weren’t for Ford life support.
It would be sweet poetic justice if an Indian buyer got hold of these brands, fixed the quality issues and built them better, cheaper. That will NOT happen in the UK.
11/02, 4:05 PM
posted by:
British_Rover
Err it shouldn’t surprise me how little people know but it still does.
Land Rover’s don’t sell in the US???? The US is Land Rover’s largest market and has been for a couple of years now. The UK is the second largest market. Land Rover sales are up 7.4% compared to last year in the US. Hummer is down 20.7% so far for the year.
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/84/84530/sales_production/Oct2007_Deliveries.pdf
Jeep is up 8% but that is only because they have three new models they didn’t have for all of last year. The new wrangler is kicking ass the Patriot wasn’t on sale at all last year and the compass was only on sale for a few months last year. Jeep will most likely finish down for the year as Wrangler sales tend to drop off going into the winter.
11/02, 4:06 PM
posted by:
British_Rover
Forgot the Chrysler sales data for jeep.
http://cgmedia.daimlerchrysler.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=D7A008F6AA2B6C1E597F948AA1CA96D7?id=6534&mid=2
11/02, 7:33 PM
posted by:
deantj
When is this ****ing idiotic story about LR and Jag being sold going to end? **** off already LLN
11/02, 9:10 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
jamaicandude: amen.
11/03, 8:35 AM
posted by:
Got Handling?
The UK is noplace (sic) to design cars? – Idiot, the UK is one of the best places to design cars, ask the world’s most desirable marques.
As for building, the UK is a great place to get highly-skilled work carried out, that’s why so many of the world’s top racing teams have their cars designed and built there. Its no longer a good place to go for grubby, cheap, repetitive production-line worker drones, the Brits leave that to the Indians, the Chinese and the good people of Michigan.
11/03, 3:16 PM
posted by:
sharpie
Yeah the end of September, then the end of this year? Sell the brands already, will ya, Ford? Some rich British (Sir Richard Branson?) need to buy them, then shoot them to the orbit of the earth and make a Guinness record.
11/04, 2:12 AM
posted by:
Ian
The sooner the better.
11/04, 10:23 PM
posted by:
jdasch1
Now this is REALLY a BOLD MOVE!! Sell them for whatever and mooove on with the plan towards profitability. Volvo should be next.
11/05, 12:06 AM
posted by:
illwill
^ They wont sell Volvo u ****in’ jerkoff. The division if too integrated with ford.
11/05, 12:07 AM
posted by:
illwill
*is
11/06, 5:28 AM
posted by:
DialM4Speed
It’s too bad but as usual if it’s connected to a US brand nobody will support it! I think they should sell of the pieces and so nobody else can try and sell them here in the US. If they wouldn’t buy it before then make it so they can’t buy it in the future! HAHAhahahahahahahaha!