Land Rover will cut its vehicles´ emissions by 20% by 2012. That’s a good thing. Land Rover will likely set another record year for sales in the U.S., up 21% in September. (UK sales were up as well.) That’s another good thing. Meanwhile Ford has announced that it is considering a number of options for potential buyers for the bundled Land Rover and Jaguar marques. That’s a strange thing...
Certainly, the rise of “eco-awareness” – along with the prospect of an EC limit of CO2 emissions by 2012 – are influencing Land Rover’s goal to reduce its carbon tread print. Many auto manufacturers are working toward similar goals…whether through altruism, legal compliance or simply good public relations is largely in the eye of the beholder.
But you can’t argue with sales. Land Rover has just achieved its most successful sales month in its entire history. In September, the company sold nearly 26,000 cars around the world – 34% up on September last year and its best performance in 714 months of business.
Still, Ford wants to unload Land Rover and Jaguar and is casting an ever wider net looking for potential buyers. British private equity group Terra Firma is thought to have thrown its hat into the ring, bringing the total number of bidders up to five. It would have been six, but Cerberus Capital Management, who recently bought out Chrysler, is now rumored to have withdrawn its name from the bidding. Still, four other private equity groups, including Tata Motors, are believed to still be in the running, even though Ford is believed to be reluctant to sell to Tata because of Ford’s belief that the Indian manufacturers may simply shift production abroad.
Yes, Ford is hurting, and a strike is imminent. After all, why should they be any different from fellow U.S. manufacturers GM and Chrysler, who both just underwent their own agonizing reappraisals spurred by striking workers. But it seems that even when you’re doing (mostly) all the right things, sometimes it’s not enough. Stay tuned…this is bound to get interesting…
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