First, Aston Martin left the Ford Motor Co fold. It looks as though Jaguar and Land Rover will follow.
Ford said on Tuesday that it was working with financial advisers to sort out the future of the two British brands, which have been rumored to be up for sale for more than a year.
The comments were the strongest yet from Ford, which previously had denied any plans to sell Jaguar and Land Rover. They come as Ford is trying to reverse a US$12.6 billion loss last year and raise money for its restructuring effort.
PHOTO: EPA
"As we've consistently been saying since last year, Ford Motor Company has been assessing a number of strategic options for all of our operations, as any responsible company would do," said Tom Hoyt, a Ford spokesman. "Ford is actively investigating its options in terms of other possible actions, and we're not ruling anything in or out."
"We are working with our financial advisers to determine the best future for Jaguar and Land Rover," he said.
The statement comes about three months after Ford sold Aston Martin, maker of the sports cars driven by the movie spy James Bond, for US$848 million to a group of investors led by the racing mogul David Richards. At the time, Ford said it was not looking to sell the other divisions of its Premier Automotive Group, which include Jaguar, Land Rover and the Swedish carmaker Volvo.
Jon Rogers, an analyst with Citigroup, estimated that Ford could get US$7 billion for Volvo and US$8 billion collectively for Jaguar and Land Rover. Because Jaguar and Land Rover share parts and production facilities, selling them individually could be difficult, Rogers said.
Ford bought Jaguar in 1989, Volvo's car operations in 1999 and Land Rover in 2000. It once hoped the luxury division could earn upward of US$1 billion a year.
Instead, the Premier group has lost US$1.15 billion over the last three years. Ford has said it expects the brands to be profitable this year; they earned US$402 million in the first quarter. But analysts said losses most likely had continued at Jaguar. The division has been a constant problem for Ford, which purchased it for US$2.5 billion.
One potential buyer, Jon Moulton, a managing partner of the private equity firm Alchemy Partners in London, said he was interested in Jaguar and Land Rover "on an emotional level." But he said he thought they would command a higher price than he would wish to bid.
In a telephone interview, Moulton said he expected an equity firm or a buyer in the Middle East or Russia rather than another carmaker to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover. The least likely option, he said, would be for Ford to retain ownership.
"I think a sale will have to go through," he said. "Ford's ability to continue feeding them cash is increasingly restricted. They are two very interesting brand names. Neither of them has really made much money for their owners over the last 20 years, but the allure of them is very obvious."
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS