Midland Automotive

[Bachy Soletanche]

So has this:

http://www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk...Image=797&gst=

been knocked down then?

[Butterfield]

It's great news about MG, I can't wait to start seeing new ones on the road again. Whether they will be a success is another story though.

[blahblah]

Same story as before. They need to put new models into production, instead of selling tarted up Rover75's (now 10 years old!) and MG TF's (which is built on the old metro chassis mounted backwards.

There are replacements for the ZR & ZS - the MG 3 and MG 5 on the way, but they were "on the way" for years under Phoenix, so we'll have to see.

They need to get dealer franchises signed up to sell the things too!

[blahblah]

Last Updated: Monday, 11 June 2007, 15:45 GMT 16:45 UK

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Ford 'names banks to sell Jaguar'

Ford has said it would not support underperforming brands
Car firm Ford is understood to have chosen Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to sell British luxury car marques Jaguar and Land Rover.
Ford, which has been cutting costs in a bid to offset declining sales, neither confirmed nor denied the news.

In March Ford sold sports car firm Aston Martin for £479m ($924m) to a UK-led business group.

The reports that Ford had named three banks to sell Land Rover and Jaguar first surfaced in the Financial Times.

In a separate report in City AM, private equity firm Alchemy Partners was said to be lining up a £3bn offer for the two luxury brands.

BBC News

[Erebus555]

Land Rover? Underperforming? I thought quite the opposite...

[blahblah]

Originally Posted by Erebus555

Land Rover? Underperforming? I thought quite the opposite...

They aren't underperforming financially. But Jaguar still are, and the two companies are now so closely interwoven that Ford is obviously deciding that it will be easier and more attractive to sell them both as one business.

Jaguar Petrol engines & gearboxes go into Land Rovers.
Land Rover diesel engines & gearboxes go in Jaguars.
Shared R&D operations.
Shared Head office in Gaydon.
The New Freelander & X-Type are both built at the same (Halewood, Merseyside) factory too.

Rumoured interested partes include JCB, Renault, PSA group (Peugeot/Citroen), Alchemy Partners (Of MG Rover fame)

Aston Martin's Dave Richards is well out of the running as the combined business is expected to fetch $4BN.

I'd love to see JCB get it, but we will have to see.

Edited to add.....

Latest news is that some analysts feel that Jaguar / Land Rover have one factory too many, and that one may be closed. That factory will be the one which is the least efficient, and has the lowest quality of workmanship. Unfortunately for us, that factory is currently Lode Lane, SolihullWhich may mean that all Land Rover production is shifted to Halewood (which will lose the XType) and all Jaguars will be made at Castle Bromwich.

8,000 people work at Lode Lane. that is around 2,000 more than were employed at Longbridge when it went under.

[NeilM]

This looks interesting on icbirmingham, does it confim that Nanjing are here for the long term??

The Austin Healey back on track

Jun 14 2007


By John Revill, Manufacturing Editor


A return of the famous Austin Healey sports car has moved closer after a deal was signed between the company aiming to revive it and the Chinese owners of MG.

Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Healey Automobile Consultants and HFI Automotive to collaborate on the future development of the Healey and Austin Healey brands and sports cars bearing their name.

The deal opens the way for the development of a modern version of the classic Austin Healey 3000 - as well as joint working on the next generation of MG sports cars.

Nanjing, which acquired the Austin Healey brand when it bought MG in 2005, could have prevented the name being used by another group.

But now the two companies will share design and engineering expertise, as well as reduce costs through joint sourcing of components.




Story continues

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The collaboration could bear fruit with a new Austin Healey and a successor to the MG TF.


HFI, an English-American consortium headed by Tim Fenna, who owns Frontline Spridget - a spares and modification firm for original Austin Healeys - has already produced a prototype model of the Healey 3000.


No venue for production has been decided, although some could take place on the part of Longbridge occupied by NAC, where the Healey 3000 was built during the 1960s.


But the deal will not see Healey versions of the existing MG TF sports car, which Nanjing is due to launch in the UK this autumn.


A spokeswoman for NAC, said: "The idea is to work together on a reciprocal basis on whatever projects we see fit.


"It means we get the opportunity to work with Healey and they can work with us. There has been some confusion over the intellectual property rights to the Austin Healey name in the past.


"This irons out the cooperation for us to work on future projects."


The spokeswoman said it was too early to say when the first results of the partnership would appear, but said any production would create more jobs.


Nanjing said in a statement that the deal ends long-standing issues about ownership of the brands and trade marks and expands opportunities for joint trade between the companies.


HFI is an Anglo-American consortium of engineers and investors which is the automotive partner of HAC, which owns the Healey brand.


It paid more than £1 million to Margot Healey, the widow of Healey co-founder Geoff, and their children Cecilia and Kate to use the name.


The new two-seat sports model designed by HFI has a front three-litre engine and is described as a modern interpretation of the classic Healey range.


It could be followed by a second model which is also likely to be based on one of its classic Healey cars which ceased production in 1972, although Healey's name lived on with the Jensen-Healey.


Mell Ward, secretary of the Midland branch of the Austin Healey club gave a cautious welcome to the developments.


She said: "Lots of different people have tried to bring back Healey over the years, but HFI seems to have the money and may do it.


"I would welcome the return of Austin Healey if they were the same cars as before. I wouldn't like it if they were souped-up sports cars or a rebranded version of the TF.


"They would have to be have to be like the authentic Healeys used to be.


"There is a lot of affection for Healeys still, and depending on the cost there could be a lot of pent up demand.


"You still see a lot of them out on the roads, and there will be new owners who want to buy a new one."

[U475 Foxtrot]

SAIC linked to Jaguar and Land Rover
Jul 1 2007

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) is rumoured to be talking to Ford about the possibility of buying Jaguar and Land Rover.

The fact that the Chinese automotive giant is interested in the two West Midlands-based units of Ford's Premier Automotive Group has trickled down to Tier One sup-pliers to Ford, a source told The Birmingham Post.

"SAIC seems to be a credible candidate to buy both Jaguar and Land Rover because the luxury car sector is booming in China as the country gets richer," he said.

"Not only that, China is seen as a base for getting Jaguars and Land Rovers in Australasia and Japan in greater number."

Neither Ford nor SAIC could be contacted for comment, but speculation about the future ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover has been rife ever since Ford announced earlier this month that it had appointed advisers to look at a raft of options for the two businesses. These are believed to include an outright sale or a joint venture deal with a partner to share the cost of developing new models.

As a perennial loss-maker, Jaguar has long been regarded as a candidate for a sell-off as Ford fights to rebuild its fortunes in the wake of falling sales and heavy cash losses in the US.

The company, which builds three of its four models at its Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham

following the closure of its historic Browns Lane site in Coventry, is believed to be on the verge of making money after abandoning its ill-fated move into the volume end of the luxury car market in favour of selling high-spec, high-margin cars in fewer numbers.

But its sales are haemorrhaging and it badly needs a vibrant new model to sit alongside the successful new XK sports car. That should come later this year when the replacement for the S-Type saloon comes on stream. Land Rover, in contrast, is making money as sales boom. But the two businesses are so closely entwined in managerial terms that Ford will have to bundle them together in order to achieve a sale.

In China, SAIC is believed to be discussing a link-up with Nanjing Automobile Corporation, the company behind the relaunch of MG and which recently began making cars at Longbridge two years after the crash of MG Rover.

...

[U475 Foxtrot]

SAIC, Nanjing Automobile Work on Merger
(China Daily June 27, 2007)

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) has again extended an olive branch to Nanjing Automobile Corp (NAC), SAIC's bidding rival for the MG Rover project two years ago, in a move that's believed to result in a merger of the two automakers.

SAIC Chairman Hu Maoyuan told a shareholders' meeting last week that both SAIC and NAC hope to best utilize the domestic and global resources, cooperate and complement each other and avoid redundant construction.

Hu also said both Shanghai and Nanjing governments have supported the move. Shanghai Vice-Mayor Hu Yanzhao led a delegation to Nanjing two weeks ago to work it out.

The central government, which has been pushing for consolidation of Chinese automakers, has also endorsed a merger.

While both SAIC and NAC have been talking about cooperation, no tangible progress has been made so far.

NAC Chairman Wang Haoliang, former deputy Party chief of Nanjing, had earlier said his company never shut the door for cooperation with SAIC. He said NAC wishes to jointly run the MG Mingjue project. Negotiations will determine if NAC will give up the controlling stake in the project.

Shanghai-based National Business Daily reported that a central government document about the merger of SAIC and NAC has already reached the Shanghai Municipal Government. The document ratified NAC as the base for MG Rover production, without clarifying the exact stake of each side.

Industry analysts say the upcoming merger will create a win-win situation for both. While it will make both automakers more efficient, it will help NAC ease its financial strains in expanding MG production and help SAIC better tackle the world market with the MG brand.

The two automakers vied for Britain's automaker MG Rover in 2005. While NAC won MG Rover's fixed assets such as production lines and technology, SAIC got its design blueprints for two car models - Rover 25 and Rover 75 - as well as the intellectual property rights for all Rover auto engines.

With Rover technology, SAIC launched its Roewe model last year and started marketing the sedan early this year.

NAC also started selling its Ming Jue sedans three months ago. It's a sports model based on MG technology.

http://www.china.org.cn/english/BAT/215179.htm
http://www.chinacarforums.com/forum/...ad.php?p=17177
http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/cgi-bi...ic.php?t=10239

[U475 Foxtrot]

I guess this is good news but if SAIC were to buy Jaguar & Land Rover and also merge with NAC I couldn't see them retaining three factories in the Midlands

[Biosonic]

My betting is that they would consolidate at Longbridge and sell Solihull. Poss even Castle Brom too.

[U475 Foxtrot]

Ford sell-off is no easy process
Jul 23 2007

Ford is not making it easy for bidders to enter the battle to buy Jaguar and Land Rover and is extremely mindful of the effect a sale would have on its image in the UK, it has been claimed.

The American carmaker has given potential suitors limited information about the financial condition of the two carmakers which employ 15,000 in the Midlands.

They have not been allowed to visit any of the factories nor have they been allowed to speak with senior management at either brand.

Ford is extremely keen to to sell the companies together, in order to prevent a break-up of the business further.

Sources have also said the Detroit carmaker has also told interested parties they can only bid on Jaguar and Land Rover if they are not contemplating a major restructuring which would involve closing plants or moving production overseas.

A source said: "Ford really won't sell to another trade buyer like Tata or Hyundai because they could just take the names, designs and technology and start building Land Rovers in India or Korea.

"Ford really wants a happy ending in all of this; it does not want anything which would rebound on its image.

"It doesn't want to dump the companies and sell them to someone who will just shut them down in a few years and move production overseas."

The source said this meant private equity, with its larger reserves of money, was more likely to be successful in the auction to buy the two marques.

Prices are estimated to be in the range of $1 billion to $1.5 billion, with American firms Cerberus, One Equity Partners and Ripplewood thought to be interested.

Cerberus has just completed the acquisiton of Chrysler from Daimler-Chrysler and is interested in adding to its investments in the automotive industry while former Ford chief executive Jac Nasser is a senior partner at One Equity, the investment arm of JP Morgan.

It was Nasser who created Ford's Premier Automotive Group, the luxury division which brought together Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Volvo.

Aston Martin has already been sold off by Ford as it attempts to stem its $12.7 billion (£6.4 billion) losses it made last year, while the company is thought to be considering a sale of Volvo.

The source said: "I think Nasser could be a smokescreeen and Cerberus would get it. The problem with Nasser is that he would want to run it himself, and he made a lot of mistakes when he was at Ford.

"Ford would also be pretty loath to sell to him after he left the company. If it was somebody else, they would recruit the best management, regardless of where they have been before."

But other experts have said a sale to private equity could be more damaging to the Ford brand in the UK, where it is the biggest selling car brand.

Similar concerns were raised in 2000 when BMW sold MG Rover to the Phoenix Consortium rather than private equity group Alchemy.

Garel Rhys, director of the centre for automotive industry at Cardiff University, said Ford was right to tread carefully.

He said: "Ford wants to be seen as going with dignity where these brands are concerned.

"The private equity market has to learn this is not an area where they are simply going to be let free."

Ford is expected to update its shareholders of the situation when it releases its second quarter sales profits on Thursday.

The sale, which has been codenamed Project Swift, is expected to take around six months, with Ford seeking a completion by the end of the year.

A spokesman for Ford said: "We have had contacts from a number of interested parties and we are currently assessing.

"This is a very preliminary stage and no decisions have been made."

...

[blahblah]

India's Tata eyes UK car legends

The chairman of India's Tata Group has confirmed that he is interested in acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover from their parent, Ford.
Speaking to Indian TV, Ratan Tata lifted his previous refusal to speculate on a possible Tata bid for the legendary British brands.

He said Tata's interest in Jaguar and Land Rover stemmed from a desire to expand its global presence.

Ford has said there is a more than 50% chance it will sell the carmakers.

BBC

Not sure how I feel about this. Would they be daft enough to shift production from Brum to India?

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by blahblah

BBC

Not sure how I feel about this. Would they be daft enough to shift production from Brum to India?

IMHO, Tata want Jaguar for the Design & Engineering centre in Coventry - they are planning to set up an Automotive centre in the city, and have a base at Warwick Uni already. Buying Jaguar will give them access to not only the brands, but also the engineering and design.

The cars can be made anywhere.

[blahblah]

Originally Posted by MartinN

The cars can be made anywhere.

Which leaves the factories at Castle Bromwich and Lode Lane in trouble! Exactly what I would fear. Not just due to the inevitable job loses but for the future of the marque's too. Some processes involved in the manufacture of these vehicles, such as the wood on the dashboards, the leather seats etc is still done by hand by highly skilled and experienced people. You can't just shift these jobs elsewhere without potentially loosing some of the quality of the work. The cars won't be the same, and Land Rover are in trouble over their quality as it is.

Did you ever see a City Rover? That was a TATA product, and it was an absolute bag of shite, with truly appaling standards in terms of build quality and material quality.

These factories really need to stay where they are.

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by blahblah

Which leaves the factories at Castle Bromwich and Lode Lane in trouble! Exactly what I would fear. Not just due to the inevitable job loses but for the future of the marque's too. Some processes involved in the manufacture of these vehicles, such as the wood on the dashboards, the leather seats etc is still done by hand by highly skilled and experienced people. You can't just shift these jobs elsewhere without potentially loosing some of the quality of the work. The cars won't be the same, and Land Rover are in trouble over their quality as it is.

Did you ever see a City Rover? That was a TATA product, and it was an absolute bag of shite, with truly appaling standards in terms of build quality and material quality.

These factories really need to stay where they are.

This is why TATA want the expertise of British engineers - so they can improve their own products.

[Splop]

Originally Posted by MartinN

This is why TATA want the expertise of British engineers - so they can improve their own products.

But they don't though, they fuck it up, just like all the other shit they've produced.

[Biosonic]

Well, 3 former bosses of LR/Jag and Ford are also in the running with separate consortia...

[rottersclub]

Originally Posted by Biosonic

Well, 3 former bosses of LR/Jag and Ford are also in the running with separate consortia...

TATA are apparently leaders - the 3 VCs are struggling to raise the cash.

[blahblah]

On to some more positive Jaguar news!

The Coventry designed, Birmingham Built Jaguar XF has been officially lauched on Jaguar's website ahead of its official unveiling at the Frankfurt Motorshow.

www.JaguarXF.com