Verkoop terreinwagens
Vooral de verkoop van terreinwagens, in het verleden enorm winstgevend, is hard gekelderd. Daarnaast zijn er torenhoge pensioen- en ziektekostenverplichtingen. In de eerste zes maanden van dit jaar schreef het concern een verlies van 1,44 miljard dollar als gevolg van de problemen in Noord-Amerika.
Om weer winstgevend te worden en de kosten te drukken, schrapt het bedrijf 30.000 banen en worden veertien fabrieken in Noord-Amerika gesloten. Ford wil ook het luxe Britse automerk Aston Martin verkopen en mogelijk Land Rover en Jaguar. Vorige maand werd bekend dat Ford zijn productie in Noord-Amerika in de rest van dit jaar met 21 procent terugschroeft wegens de gedaalde autoverkoop. Ford maakt naar verwachting later deze maand een nieuwe reeks reorganisaties bekend om de problemen het hoofd te bieden.
ford?????
-
Hermen Vlothuizen
Re: ford?????
Gisteren is er nog veel spannender nieuws van het Ford/Land Rover bekend geworden. Zie hieronder. Ik ben benieuwd...
Hermen
--
bron: [www.austin-rover.co.uk]
Ford buys Rover... name
REUTERS
THE prospect of Rover rising from the ashes was revived once again yesterday as Ford, the ailing American car manufacturer, bought the rights to the former luxury British car marque for about £6 million from BMW.
Ford is not expected to bring back the Rover in its old form  a quintessentially British luxury saloon  but is working on plans to introduce a range of Rover branded vehicles to fit within its Land Rover range, a source close to the company said. Ford was granted an option of first refusal to buy the Rover brand when it acquired Land Rover from BMW for $2.7 billion in 2000.
Ford, which did not disclose officially the financial terms of its agreement with BMW, said that it had exercised the right to buy the Rover brand to protect Land Rover, which is part of its Premium Automotive Group (PAG). “We believed then [in 2000], as we do now, that it is in the interests of the Land Rover business to own the Rover trademark,†Ford said.
Although Ford would not comment on the future of the Rover brand, sources said that the company wanted to build further upon its successful Land Rover brand in North America and has plans to design a so-called “crossover vehicle†using the Rover brand. “Land Rover could be one member of a new Rover family,†the source said, “with Range Rover and who knows what other kind of ‘Rover’.â€Â
Crossover vehicles are smaller more fuel-efficient versions of the gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles (SUVs) that are becoming less popular in America. Land Rover already makes the Freelander, which is similar to a crossover vehicle, but it has not proved popular in the United States. The Rover brand was not included in last year’s deal to sell MG Rover to Nanjing Automobile Group, of China, which is planning to manufacture MG-branded sports cars at Longbridge, Birmingham, but it is understood that the Chinese company, and others, had expressed an interest in buying it.
The outside interest, which also came from Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), of China, which owned the rights to build two Rover models before the company collapsed, is understood to have spurred Ford to exercise its option to buy the brand. SAIC is in a joint venture with both General Motors and Volkswagen to manufacture cars in China.
Ford made the surprise move yesterday, as it was revealed that the carmaker recently held brief preliminary talks about a merger or alliance with its arch-rival General Motors. The talks, between Don Leclair, the chief financial officer of Ford, and Fritz Henderson, his counterpart at GM, were held in August, but are not expected to be revived and no deal between the two is expected to emerge. GM has also been in talks with Renault, of France, and Nissan, of Japan, about a possible three-way alliance. The talks do not seem to have advanced since they were announced in July, however.
Ford and GM are struggling in the face of increased competition from Asian carmakers and rising labour costs.
Last week Ford offered redundancy packages to all 82,000 of its hourly unionised workers and said that it also would cut 14,000 salaried jobs.
The company declined to comment about the talks with GM.
Hermen
--
bron: [www.austin-rover.co.uk]
Ford buys Rover... name
REUTERS
THE prospect of Rover rising from the ashes was revived once again yesterday as Ford, the ailing American car manufacturer, bought the rights to the former luxury British car marque for about £6 million from BMW.
Ford is not expected to bring back the Rover in its old form  a quintessentially British luxury saloon  but is working on plans to introduce a range of Rover branded vehicles to fit within its Land Rover range, a source close to the company said. Ford was granted an option of first refusal to buy the Rover brand when it acquired Land Rover from BMW for $2.7 billion in 2000.
Ford, which did not disclose officially the financial terms of its agreement with BMW, said that it had exercised the right to buy the Rover brand to protect Land Rover, which is part of its Premium Automotive Group (PAG). “We believed then [in 2000], as we do now, that it is in the interests of the Land Rover business to own the Rover trademark,†Ford said.
Although Ford would not comment on the future of the Rover brand, sources said that the company wanted to build further upon its successful Land Rover brand in North America and has plans to design a so-called “crossover vehicle†using the Rover brand. “Land Rover could be one member of a new Rover family,†the source said, “with Range Rover and who knows what other kind of ‘Rover’.â€Â
Crossover vehicles are smaller more fuel-efficient versions of the gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles (SUVs) that are becoming less popular in America. Land Rover already makes the Freelander, which is similar to a crossover vehicle, but it has not proved popular in the United States. The Rover brand was not included in last year’s deal to sell MG Rover to Nanjing Automobile Group, of China, which is planning to manufacture MG-branded sports cars at Longbridge, Birmingham, but it is understood that the Chinese company, and others, had expressed an interest in buying it.
The outside interest, which also came from Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), of China, which owned the rights to build two Rover models before the company collapsed, is understood to have spurred Ford to exercise its option to buy the brand. SAIC is in a joint venture with both General Motors and Volkswagen to manufacture cars in China.
Ford made the surprise move yesterday, as it was revealed that the carmaker recently held brief preliminary talks about a merger or alliance with its arch-rival General Motors. The talks, between Don Leclair, the chief financial officer of Ford, and Fritz Henderson, his counterpart at GM, were held in August, but are not expected to be revived and no deal between the two is expected to emerge. GM has also been in talks with Renault, of France, and Nissan, of Japan, about a possible three-way alliance. The talks do not seem to have advanced since they were announced in July, however.
Ford and GM are struggling in the face of increased competition from Asian carmakers and rising labour costs.
Last week Ford offered redundancy packages to all 82,000 of its hourly unionised workers and said that it also would cut 14,000 salaried jobs.
The company declined to comment about the talks with GM.
-
Hermen Vlothuizen
Re: ford?????
Ford/Land Rover FRONT had ik eigenlijk willen typen...
Hermen
Hermen
-
Niels
Re: ford?????
Tsja. Nu maar hopen dat het merk niet verziekt wordt met een Rover badged Fietstas of Hokuspokus.....
Ik ben benieuwd wat er van komt. Op zich zou het mooi zijn dat het merk weer terugkeert.
Groet,
Niels
<img src=http://images.fotopic.net/y4nrit.jpg height=160><img src=http://images.fotopic.net/y4nri0.jpg height=160>
Beecy, 109 Series III Hardtop 6-cilinder.
[nielsgerrits.fotopic.net]
BEWARE: everything you prik can and will be used against you.
Ik ben benieuwd wat er van komt. Op zich zou het mooi zijn dat het merk weer terugkeert.
Groet,
Niels
<img src=http://images.fotopic.net/y4nrit.jpg height=160><img src=http://images.fotopic.net/y4nri0.jpg height=160>
Beecy, 109 Series III Hardtop 6-cilinder.
[nielsgerrits.fotopic.net]
BEWARE: everything you prik can and will be used against you.
-
Hermen Vlothuizen
Re: ford?????
Als ik een gokje mag doen, is het vooral een voorbereiding om Land Rover als zelfstandig bedrijf van de hand te doen i.p.v. via een package deal met bijvoorbeeld Jaguar. In mijn beeld wordt het merk Land Rover domweg meer waard als je voorkomt dat Chinese fabrieken hun producten onder het Roverlabel verkopen.
Hermen
Hermen
-
Niels
Re: ford?????
Klinkt inderdaad wel plausibel.
Groet,
Niels
<img src=http://images.fotopic.net/y4nrit.jpg height=160><img src=http://images.fotopic.net/y4nri0.jpg height=160>
Beecy, 109 Series III Hardtop 6-cilinder.
[nielsgerrits.fotopic.net]
BEWARE: everything you prik can and will be used against you.
Groet,
Niels
<img src=http://images.fotopic.net/y4nrit.jpg height=160><img src=http://images.fotopic.net/y4nri0.jpg height=160>
Beecy, 109 Series III Hardtop 6-cilinder.
[nielsgerrits.fotopic.net]
BEWARE: everything you prik can and will be used against you.
-
Frans Bonnes
Re: ford?????
Denk niet dat Ford Landrover apart zal verkopen.
Als Landrover al verkocht wordt zal dat zijn als bonus bij een verliesgevend merk.
Frans Bonnes
Als Landrover al verkocht wordt zal dat zijn als bonus bij een verliesgevend merk.
Frans Bonnes
-
Hermen Vlothuizen
Re: ford?????
Tja, een kat in het nauw maakt rare sprongen en zo. Ik begreep dat Land Rover op zich winstgevend is, maar ik geloof dat het met Ford zo slecht gaat dat de opbrengst van zo'n eventuele verkoop vast erg welkom zal zijn.
Hermen
Hermen
-
hans
Re: ford?????
Ik denk dat de verkoop van Land Rover voor Ford slechts een druppeltje op de gloeiend plaat is...............
Hans
Hans