Mum and Dad, Send Quid Quick!

More bad financial news for Ford. Jaguar needs a cash infusion, to the tune of a billion dollars. From CBS Marketwatch:

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Ford Motor Co. is preparing to inject 500 million pounds ($935 million) into Jaguar, the loss-making luxury car maker it acquired in 1989, the Sunday Times of London reported.

Jaguar, maker of the XK, XJ, S-Type and X-Type, lost 601 million pounds ($1.1 billion) in 2003 amid spending on product development, worse-than-expected sales and a plunge in the U.S. dollar versus the British pound. That loss included a 533 million pound write-down in the value of its assets, the newspaper reported.

Ford needs to have Jaguar self-sufficient, or make radical changes. If people don't want to buy Jags, but would rather buy BMWs, Mercedes, and Lexus, maybe a re-evaluation of Jaguar is necessary. Maybe Jaguar needs to be platform engineered with Ford of Europe's vehicles, like a European Lincoln? Or maybe Aston Martin, Land Rover and Jaguar should be spun off as an independent company, to pursue their British-ness.

It could be called British Motor Works, or BMW for short.

Market analysts have been saying for some time that the luxury market will grow faster than the bottom end, so Ford definitely needs a player at the table. Maybe it isn't with Jaguar, maybe it will have to be Volvo.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY DECEMBER 2004 U.S. SALES

                      December CYTD       %
                          2004       2003   Change
Sales By Brand  
Ford              ... 2,778,678  2,894,347   -4.0
Mercury           ...   193,534    202,257   -4.3
Lincoln           ...   139,016    158,839  -12.5
Jaguar            ...    45,875     54,655  -16.1
Volvo             ...   139,067    134,586    3.3
Land Rover        ...    35,506     39,035   -9.0
                
Total Ford      
    Motor Company     3,331,676  3,483,719   -4.4

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