Could great cats like this become extinct?
The future for two of Britain’s most famous car brands looks uncertain once again.
Following the sale of Aston Martin to private investors earlier this year, sources say Ford is looking to dispose of the other members of its Premier Automotive Group (PAG).
Apparently, the firm has hired two investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to pursue the sale of the remaining PAG brands - Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo. BMW were reported to be considering acquiring Volvo earlier this year.
In recent months, it’s been Fiat that has been in the running to take over the British brands. Ford's talks with Fiat started in February and ended late last month when the Italian firm became worried that any acquisition would damage its credit rating. The talks reportedly involved Fiat group CEO Sergio Marchionne and Ford of Europe boss (and PAG head) Lewis Booth.
Neither company would confirm the talks took place. "Ford Motor Company is continuing to assess a number of strategic options for all of its operations," said a Ford spokesman. "We're not specifying what they are and what we're evaluating."
Fiat were interested in some of this...
The Italians are reported to have been most interested in Land Rover’s SUV prominence and their US dealer network, and jaguar’s rear wheel drive platforms and advanced, large capacity engines.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally had said that the Jaguar and Land Rover brands wouldn’t be sold off like Aston Martin any time soon, but it appears that might not be the case.
Although PAG has a chance of recording a profit this year after many of recording a loss, Jaguar is unlikely to follow suit for at least another couple of years. The firm has lost huge sums of money in recent years – said to be as much as $1billion a year. Meanwhile, despite making good progress, Land Rover is facing a tough time with a product range that doesn’t sit comfortably with the ever more powerful green movement.
Other reports have linked the Renault-Nissan group and private equity group Alchemy partners (known to car enthusiasts for their attempts to buy MG-Rover when BMW sold it) to the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
Either way, there could be tough times ahead.