After the sale of Aston Martin to a group led by Prodrive head David Richards, speculations have risen that Jaguar may be the next luxury brand to be sold by the struggling Dearborn based car maker. The sale of the super luxury brand generated much needed funds for the financial woe beset Ford.
Aston Martin is one of the most expensive brands in the world and in its stay in the Ford stable, the brand has seen improvement second only to the David Brown era. But since problem after problem has beset Ford, they see it fit that the brand be sold to generate funds they can use for development of other brands they deem important to their restructuring plan.
Last year, the Ford Motor Company experienced their lowest point in their storied history. The company posted a loss of $12.7 billion and they have borrowed the sum of $23.5 billion to help them get back to profitability. The sale of Aston Martin is one good step for Ford since they can now focus on other more pressing problems.
But the question in the minds of some auto experts is whether the sale of the brand is enough to bolster the sagging financial status of the company. Some experts in the field said that if Ford's restructuring plan falters, they may be putting up the Jaguar brand for sale just like they did with the very profitable Aston Martin.
To these speculations, Ford's leadership team answered that Jaguar is not for sale. In spite of this statement from Ford, there are still those in the industry who still think that Jaguar will be sold - maybe later than sooner. Some even went as far as quoting a sum for the sale of Jaguar.
The brand has no been profitable in recent years. This fact will play a key roe when the time comes that Ford will sell the brand. Experts pointed out that to sweeten the deal of selling Jaguar, its cousin, Land Rover, should be thrown in the mix. The quoted amount that may be generated for the sale of the two brands is between $1.3 and $1.5 billion.
But there are those in the auto industry that see the sale of Aston Martin as a blessing for Jaguar. The reason cited for this is that Jaguar can now develop vehicles which will be aimed at super luxury car enthusiasts.
For years, Ford has contained the development of Jaguar since they cannot allow Jaguar to produce cars which will directly compete with the super luxury vehicles manufactured and marketed under the Aston Martin marque. With the departure of the brand though, Jaguar can step up and claim the position recently occupied by Aston Martin until its sale to the group composed of two Kuwaiti investments firm, Aston Martin collector and banking billionaire John Sinders, and Formula One team boss David Richards.
If Ford chose to sell Jaguar in the long run together with its British cousin Land Rover, what would be left of the Premiere Automotive Group, Ford's luxury portfolio, will be Volvo. While there are still no rumors as to whether Volvo will be ultimately sold, the fact remains that the sale of Aston Martin has served as a by supporting the weight of the problems faced by Ford.
