Thread: Ford 'restructuring'

Can't see it being as bad as it reads... all they'd have to do is sell one of their lines as they own Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover & Aston Martin

You have to ask is Land Rover a poisoned chalice, look at their owners, financial and marketing history post takeovers, Leyland, BMW sold off LR as it realised the financial cost in billions, Ford losing Billions.

Is the only solution to removing the curse of ownership returning Land Rover to its true and pure form of a 4wd built and sold for off road use and not some luxury gadget laden toy

From what I've read elsewhere, this problem is serious for them..

Frankly Land Rover would be better off with an owner who appreciated its roots and (former) diversity - and it would probably be a great time to make a good cheap 4wd like what Suzuki did, or in fact Land Rover with the original - (or Ford with the GP jeep).

QUOTE: Can't see it being as bad as it reads... all they'd have to do is sell one of their lines as they own Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover & Aston Martin.



Land Rover has value.
Mazda has enormous value.
Volvo has a value.

As for the rest, well.

Have a look at the Ford sedan lineup sold in the USA - crikey!
Only the Focus has some merit.

And with juice at around $3.00 per US gallon, no wonder they're hi margin big fellas aren't selling.

Two years from now, I'm going 'merger' with Hyundai. It's an obvious fit.

Love to know what the guys (and girls) at Broadmeadows are thinking.

Dearborn (Ford HQ) has apparently had a serious brain drain - the smarties are going or have already done a runner....

GQ

Originally Posted by cartm58

You have to ask is Land Rover a poisoned chalice, look at their owners, financial and marketing history post takeovers, Leyland, BMW sold off LR as it realised the financial cost in billions, Ford losing Billions.

Is the only solution to removing the curse of ownership returning Land Rover to its true and pure form of a 4wd built and sold for off road use and not some luxury gadget laden toy

The Nazis (BMW) bought British Aerospaces share of Land Rover (80%) for less than it would have cost them to tool up for a prototype 4WD. They ripped off some technology, put an end to innovative Land Rover projects (such as a range of 4, 6 & 8 cyl engines with parts compatibility), and then sold it off to FORD, who had been coveting Land Rover for some decades.

But I agree with the 2nd paragraph .

I agree Michael, BMW only bought LR to milk it's 4WD know how. What they didn't realise at the time was what state the infant freelander project was in. Beemer's engineers wanted to drop freelander altogether, but the accountanst said no as too much money was at stake. In the end, the same engineers managed to evolve the car into a much better product very quickly. But at the end of the day, they always intended to offload LR after a relatively short period.

How much do you reckon they'd want for LR? We could all chip in, maybe sell a few lamingtons etc.

Funny guy, there Jamo!

I see they're probably going to need a few lamington drives around Dearborn.

GQ

They have been trying to flog off jag for some time. It is a dog - HUGE production costs, heavy losses etc etc. Talk was they were going to throw LR in with it - as it is the ONLY profitable arm of Ford (and hugely so these days). It also has v. high production costs and long production times though.
They are only interested in saving the mass produced fuel guzzing, low quality crap that carries the blue oval in the US.
I'm not a fan of BMW, but they did introduce some good concepts and quality to LR. If it weren't for them LR would be in the same boat as Rover.

LR is more profitable now than it has ever been, is selling more vehciles than ever, and whilst 4WD sales in Brit. go down, LR sales have gone up. They have new models, and are regaining popularity and a name for quality. Why wouldn't they F**K everything up? It's what the Yanks and all British car makers have always done over the years!

Looking forward to a "made in China" sticker on LR's in the future! NOT

Well GQ, I'm more than willing to offer my services as the new General Manager, subject of course to an appropriate salary package