Snippet: is understood that Ford’s senior management, led by chairman and chief executive Bill Ford Jr, is considering packaging the two marques together and selling a majority stake to a financial investor.
Ford would retain a minority holding, and continue its technical and supply links with the two British carmakers. The Land Rover sale is one option being studied after the appointment last week of Kenneth Leet, a former Goldman Sachs and Bank of America banker, as special adviser to Bill Ford...
Snippet: But including Land Rover with Jaguar would sweeten the deal for any buyer. After a costly restructuring and heavy investment in new models, Land Rover is experiencing strong sales and, unlike Jaguar, is making money.
More on this story here and here.
So if this were to happen, is this good news for the future of Lincoln? Could Lincoln be moved (a lot!) further upmarket, in an effort to really position it as a truly premium brand? Could Mercury also be moved (somewhat) upmarket, to split the gap, and more importantly—to distance it from Ford cars?
jerrywimer says:
05:10 AM, 08/ 8/06
I've heard it said that Ford has too many competing high end divisions before. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad thing, so long as Ford manages to use the sale(s) and any earnings to improve the products from the remaining divisions.
ateixeira says:
01:13 PM, 08/ 9/06
I think this would be great for Ford. They acquired too many brands, and yes Jaguar has absolutely limited how good a Lincoln LS could be.
I bet they sell to a Korean or Chinese group, watch.