Now that Aston Martin’s gone, is Jaguar next?

Ford announced yesterday the sale of its premium sports car segment, Aston Martin, which was sold to a group made up of David Richards, John Sinders, Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co. The company was sold for £479 million ($925 million). Now that Ford has some of the much needed money after its $12.5 billion loss in 2006, is the struggling Jaguar to go next?

Jaguar has been in trouble for some time now, so much so, Ford is helping Jaguar dealerships stay in business until the arrival of its much anticipated, Jaguar XF in April 2008. Sales and popularity of the ‘cat’ have been dropping for a while now.

But parting with Jaguar will be difficult for Ford, since it will put Ford out of the ultimate-luxury brand. Even 007 might be a little angry with Ford if they got rid of Jaguar since he is supposed to drive the next Jaguar XF in the upcoming Bond movies.

Why didn’t Ford just sell Jaguar instead of Aston Martin? Well, it seems like Ford is putting a lot of its hope on the upcoming Jaguar XF with the success of its C-XF concept.
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EL34 - 3/13/2007 11:39:16 AM

+1 Boost

No!

Agent63 - 3/13/2007 12:26:19 PM

+2 Boost

If the Aston owners bought out Jaguar it would be nice to keep all the British brands together under one household.

EL34i - 3/13/2007 12:59:15 PM

+6 Boost

Perhaps Ford could kill off Mercury and divert its finances to Jag.

EL34 - 3/13/2007 8:51:00 PM

+5 Boost

I agree!

EL34 - 3/13/2007 8:51:01 PM

+5 Boost

I agree!

ryaajus - 3/14/2007 8:54:00 AM

+6 Boost

Damn, I actually agree. It's so rare on this site.

Caddyman - 3/14/2007 11:28:32 PM

+4 Boost

Has anyone (including Ford) ever figured out the purpose of Mercury?

S4cabriofoxone - 3/15/2007 7:46:38 PM

+2 Boost

No. There is no purpose. The brand is simply there.

EL34i, I completely agree. There's no use for Mercury- but Jag have so much going for them.

SupraNeverBack - 3/13/2007 1:04:07 PM

+3 Boost

Nobody will want an sick old Cat. But Ford will dump it for sure.

gsh23 - 3/13/2007 1:09:45 PM

+3 Boost

man i love the c-xf. yah i know, it looks like a seat leon but its so much better. depending on engine and price it might be my next car.

S4cabriofoxone - 3/13/2007 4:46:34 PM

+1 Boost

I can only hope...

supermoto - 3/13/2007 6:01:05 PM

+2 Boost

Hopefully some buyer can ressurect the ailing brand. Ford has never made money with Jag and managed to reduce sales by, what, 70%?

cdoke - 3/13/2007 6:33:26 PM

+2 Boost

I doubt Ford will sell Jaguar, at least as of right now. The reason being that a lot of the immense amounts of money that Ford has spent saving the brand has been used in the development of products that are either just coming out or have yet to be introduced to the market. The reports from Ford expect the brand to be profitable in, as I recall, 3-4 years. If that is indeed the case then it may be somewhat foolish of Ford to sell the brand as of yet, predicated upon the intricacies of the economics of course. If through that time performance does not begin to meet the expectations, I would imagine they may cut their losses, and get rid of it. The idea however, is that in the interim they build brand value by demonstrating appropriate product: or at least I would imagine that is the idea.

We shall see.

kart1 - 3/14/2007 12:49:25 AM

-1 Boost

If Jaguar had actually produced cars that didn't look like 20 year old Jags this problem would not exist. How long did those executives plan to sell a car that looks like its 80s daddy. I mean once you buy a Jaguar, there is no need to buy another one because the redesigns don't change the exterior look.

Caddyman - 3/14/2007 11:33:29 PM

+1 Boost

I dont really have a problem with the classic look of Jags. Its pretty unique to me. Even though the new XK and the up and coming XF designs is stunning, its sad to see that they have to ditch the trademark look to sell cars...

alchomai - 3/14/2007 7:01:49 AM

+1 Boost

Where is the problem? I hardly see it.

Westside7th - 3/16/2007 11:06:36 AM

+1 Boost

This article is just speculation. This is so pointless.