Maybe they will also sell the 33% of Mazda they own we forum members could then buy it and put RG , MM ,RP and a few others in charge and create a better, FASTER RX8 .


CHECK THIS OUT .

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/news.php?sid=133&page=1

Michael

 

I'm sure the guys on Top Gear will be happy about this.

 

They need sell Jaguar fast. That business has been losing money since 1989!!! 17 years to turn that company around and it's still bleeding red....

Not sure a private equity firm is good for Austin Martin, but Ford really needs the cash.

 

I wish Ford would just hurry up and go bankrupt. Stop mass producing Expeditions and shitty SUV's. It is almost like the people in charge have a 5 year delayed reaction time. The SUV craze is over and has been, but they wont admit it. That is just my example. I guess I am just a GM guy if I had to chose between the two.

 

Here is the news from MSN Cars UK.....

The Ford Motor Corporation has announced that it is attempting to find a buyer for its Aston Martin luxury car marque in order to free up desperately needed cash to invest in other divisions.
The decision comes after a sharp dip in sales and a spokesman for Ford of Europe confirmed that several potential buyers had already been approached. However Ford have refused to provide details and said that the decision to sell was by no means set in stone.
Ford’s European luxury car brands; Aston Martin, Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover, have consistently underperformed and lost £85 million in the second quarter of the year. This has been compounded by a downturn in Ford’s American key market; pick-up trucks and SUVs. Ford’s US sales have fallen by 10% so far this year and the company is formulating an emergency turnaround plan and next month is expected to announce job losses and plant closures. Analysts have speculated that Ford could sell other assets and construction firm JCB have expressed an interest in buying Jaguar.
Ford Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford said: “As part of our ongoing strategic review, we have determined that Aston Martin may be an attractive opportunity to raise capital and generate value,” and called Aston, “the most logical and capital-smart divestiture choice”. Bill Ford said of the remainder of the luxury division: “Regarding our other Premier Automotive Group brands, we've made no decisions, as our review of strategic alternatives continues. However, we continue to be encouraged by Jaguar's progress and by the strength and consumer appeal of the Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo product line-ups.”

I would suggest if US sales are anything like Australia in Fords USA 10% sales drop, I would predict that the SUV segement is more like 30-40% drop on sales!....

I still wonder about the thinking of Mazda (AKA Ford) in making 3 SUV's from Japan..

The CX-7 available in the US now and Australia in December...
The CX-5....aledgedly the new TRIBUTE....new face lift just released here....
Then the CX-9.....coming soon to the US and perhaps other markets...Mazda Australia are undecided..

I cant see the point of a Tribute replacement?

 

whya tribute at all? i hate those things, i hate suvs in general, but if a gun were in my face, u gotta get a turbod one! cx7s are strange but they r fun, and no soccer mom is cooler than a soccer mom whos got a turbo!

 

Are you saying that Toyota doesn't sell SUV's? What company doesn't sell SUV's these days? The problems at Ford are not that they sell SUV's....it's that in doing so they abandoned their car business. The answer to the problem is not to stop building highly profitable SUV's but to stop terminating car projects that they despirately need right now. A good B-segment car and continued development of the CD3 cars and Ford will be golden. The Fusion/Milan/Zephyr beat all sales expectations Ford had. Through customer surveys Ford has learned what other options customer's want in the car and are making the changes now and not later. When in Ford's history have they ever changed a vehicle after 1 year? That shows that Ford is being proactive. I think we need to do more with the Focus for sure......but other than that our future product line looks good. The Edge/MKX will be a huge success.....just watch

 

The MKX might be a a success... if people are blind. Ugly. I'd buy a competitor.

Why should I buy it? What does it offer that should attract a buyer away from the competition? What's special about it besides styling... which will come down to a matter of opinion?

I am not seeing any reason yet that a Ford product is a "must have" over competitors.