For 2007, Land Rover's global sales increased nearly 18%, due mostly to increased sales in new markets Russia and China, and according to the carmaker’s managing director Phil Popham it’s “strongly in profit at the moment".
Jaguar, too, has turned around its dismal performance record and should be close to turning a profit this year. "In 2008 we are expecting a much stronger year in terms of sales," Mike O'Driscoll, Jaguar managing director, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.
Despite the recent strong performance of both Jaguar and Land Rover, Ford, as part of its own turnaround plan, has decided to focus on its core brands and thus is offloading the two British marques. It will be interesting to see what cash-rich Tata Motors will be able to do with the brands once it takes control.
Reader Comments
Mon Jan 14 2008 10:10 AM
chris says
this still makes me sick. It really does. ford is going to take all the financial blows of having messed up these two brands, and then invested billions into them, just in time to sell them to tata? i'd love nothing more to hear that ford pulled a ferrari and desided not to sell at the last minute. honestly. are they worth the 2 billion? i'd think with the new jag offerings and the surprisingly good reception to the new rovers, we'd be looking at not only profitability in 2008, but sustained profitability in the end.
ford needs a pinacle brand, and aston is already all but gone, with probably little hope of being able to rebuy it if and when they get enough cash to do so. yikes. for shame.
Mon Jan 14 2008 12:53 PM
Axial6 says
As a Briton and a LR loyalist, having owned 4 in my lifetime thus far, I never thought I would say this, yet I welcome the buyout. For the simple fact they these two brands require heavy capital investment and cash infusion to sustain and build upon their recent found success. More importantly for LR to improve quality, it will require substantial upgrades to it's facilities and manufacturing capabilities.
Mon Jan 14 2008 3:16 PM
chris says
Axial, i agree, they need a lot of cash to completely revolutionize the brand, and ford just cant spend any more cash on these guys. they never gave them the funding that they needed to begin with, and this could be a very good thing for the two brands. it could also be a bad thing for them too. I'm just looking at it from a ford loyalists view. fords sunk a lot of money into the two brands, and they have been able to enjoy some success from platform sharing (the lincoln LS is a good example). more or less i just dont want volvo to be ford's luxury brand. and i think theyre going to do nothing with lincoln anyways...
Tue Jan 15 2008 12:11 AM
Axial6 says
Chris, whilst I agree with you in principal, there are as you pointed out, financial circumstances beyond Ford's ability to continue with this two lines in any significant manner. And as a Briton and one of few, whom felt that Ford should reap some of the benefits of their efforts, I also feel that they are getting what they deserve.
First, I am unimpressed thus far with Mulally. I think Ford had opportunity after opportunity to turn Jaguar around, I recall when they redesigned the XJ series and I was gobsmacked. My first thought was not only had the car remained too stale in design, they had ruined the proportions of the older generation body style. Yet I was told by the Product VP (and rather arrogantly) that this "retains Jag's heritage whilst providing the legroom that was needed). And to think that is all Jag needed to compete with Audi, BMW and MB.......
Secondly, even the new XF is a bit of a disappointment to me, however I think they are on the right footing. I wish it was made of aluminium much like the XJ, yet again Fords financial position would not allow that.
Land Rover is an entirely different story, reliability and dealer network and service is the major issue here. More importantly, LR needs to employ Jag all aluminium construction to save weight, and they MUST IMPROVE LR image as all show and little substance. Having owned 4 of them, my last one a 2004 Range Rover (nightmare electrical issues and MPG was atrocious) it was sad, yet I could not continue my loyalty to a brand that has forsaken it's responsibility to the customer.
Let's hope that TaTa infuses the capital needed and does not water down the brands.
Cheers
Tue Jan 15 2008 11:00 AM
chris says
i definitely agree with everything you said. the "bean counting" at ford got to the other side of the pond and its very unfortunate. you cant skimp out on luxury brands. jaguar was turning into the next lincoln (a pseudo luxury brand) and LR quality, as i've heard all too much (mostly from top gear) was just pathetic. you're better off buying a BMW or a porsche or just about anything else. as far as quality is concerned. LR's make great off roaders, when they work. and i completely agree about the aluminum. 5 years ago, jag made a splash at NAIAS here when they said "here, this is the new car, its all aluminum. see?" brilliant. why are we going backwards? cause ford is cheap, has been cheap for the last 10 years, and it got to jag.
I'm going to disagree with the comment about mulally. the way I look at it is when mulally got to ford, there was ford, lincoln, merc, aston, jag, LR, volvo and mazda. ford of EU, mazda, and some volvos shared platforms, ford of america was independent with their platforms, and lincoln was all willy nilly with their own stuff too. jag and LR have always been on their own, and aston, to hell if i know anything about aston. they look great. i've said it before, but bill ford was a bad president and CEO. he had the vision; he wanted green in the 90's and no one in the company would listen. he just didnt have the balls do force that vision. he wanted to platform share in the 90s. i remember the display at NAIAS. he just didnt have the balls. the only thing he did for the company was find mulally. the guy who took boeing from 16 platforms to 4 and thus turned a dying elephant into a gold elephant. mulally is the only guy in the industry who can help ford. He is the right kind of guy with the right ideas to fix the problems that ford has. I just wish he wouldnt close the door completely on Jag and LR. at least ford kept their foot in the door with aston. I hope that in a couple years, they can buy back aston and have a real prestigious marque again. cause like ford's said before, they wont be moving lincoln back up market where she belongs.
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