|
Having previously worked at Jaguar during its transition to Ford Ownership, I can tell you that I believe that Ford ownership would probably bring positive ramifications. Such a change would be transparent to the average owners. Ford can bring economies of scale in
- parts purchasing/supply chain management
- backoffice operations
- logistics
As far as design and engineering of the Jaguars, it seemed as though Ford took a "hands off" approach except in areas where quality could be improved. This resulted in the beautiful XK8. The only reason that Ford shared its platforms with the S type and the new upcoming 3 series fighter, is that these models weren't previously built and it was cheaper to develop them that way. Nevertheless, these models retained/will retain their Jaguar character.
That said, i think BMW is worth more to GM than it does to Ford. Ford already has a premium upscale brand in Jaguar
which covers the same markets that BMW does for those most part. GM has Saab and Cadillac which seem to tackle the lower range of the upscale market. GM will not let BMW go to Ford without a HUGE fight.
That said, i think this discussion is moot because I don't think BMW will ever sell out. An alliance of some sort is more probable. Nevertheless its fun to speculate on the possibilities.
© 1997 -
2009
Jump Internet Inc. All rights reserved.
