I have a feeling some Chinese Billionaire might snap these 2 up Bill Ford says he wont sell to Asia but w the kind of economic hardship Ford is in he may not have a choice Regardless, I want to see a new E type similair to a BMW Z8, THAT would Rock !!!!
i heard something about this, i think lr should go back to britain, give it it's heritage back. as for jag, i agree 100 percent on the e-type. or, would you prefer the trendy +1 on the e-type?
Jag still owes us this F-Type, the last good idea that got scuppered by Ford: Image Unavailable, Please Login
I wonder who will buy them? Jag/LR really are one effective brand, given they have no cross over vehicle, but still do share quite a few parts. In aside, AM was bought by Prodrive.
Whoever steps up to the plate, I sure hope that quality is the first thing on their list of needed improvements... They both make very nice cars, but reliability continues to be a problem...
Why isn't Land Rover importing the Defender anymore? I think they only did the Defender 90 in the mid-90s, but never the 110. Is it too hard to import now? As long as a Jag re-starts a LeMans team sponsored by Silk Cut, I'll be happy.
Can't speak for Astons but I would imagine they would have to pay someone to take range rusters. What a dog. Nothing will ever be able to revive their horrible reputation in the USA. I think we will see a Maserati BiTurbo on JD Power's list before we ever see a rr.For the life of me I do not understand why anyone would ever risk their safety or the safety of the family and passengers by driving in a rr.
From my understanding it appears as though there were other investors. Link: http://www.astonmartin.com/thecompany/news?a=1a77ab65-8f1a-4793-b988-6fc0f2882719
They officially stopped making Defenders shortly before they started making the "new" Range Rovers in '03. They retooled the factory to make the (nearly) all Al MKIII Rovers (the roof is still steel). Incidentally, they sold most of the tooling to a former Nissan (that is, IIRC) plant in Pakistan. They are still making new SWB and LWB Defenders at this plant, with a few upgrades relating by and large to cooling and air conditioning. When I was last over seas, I saw and drove one of these in person. Interesting experience.
From your own link again: "Leading the investors is David Richards, founder and chairman of Prodrive..." Judging by the language of the article as a whole, it would appear, Richards will be running the show, with the other investors serving as sources of capital and finance management. This makes sense given that Richards is the only one with experience in the industry.
I have heard a number of Indian auto makers are looking to buy the duo...Tata to be exact... Source: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200707260527DOWJONESDJONLINE000502_FORTUNE5.htm
They should just shut Jaguar down as a company. They have never really built a good car (e-type being the only exception really..and even then it was a junk box)
I am pretty sure that with this car Jaguar would have kill all Porsche-Boxter sales figures! Ciao! Walter
Best was XK 120, E-Type and XK8...the rest was crap. But try to tell this to someone who loves Fish n`chips! Ciao! Walter
The average age crept up from 50 to 65 in the last 6 years and sales have reached an all time low that hasn't been seen since Jaguar was independent, despite having a 5th additional model (X-Type) in the line up. Can I get a "wow," gentlemen? The brand was gravely mismanaged by not just Ford/PAG, but by Jaguar management and the heads of the sales and marketing departments. The good cars are too far between years. I would add the 6cyl XJR to the list of one of those few Jaguars that embodies everything good from the marque. It isn't the fastest car in the world but it's low, raw, stiff, reliable, good seating, forged internals, forged suspension, and rare. Ford set Lofty (pun intended) goals in attempting to sell 200,000 cars a year, quadruple the high point Jaguar achieved when they took Jaguar over in 1989, and didn't achieve selling 50k cars until 10 years later let alone 4 times this amount. How in the world did they plan to sell 4 times as many sets of keys to the geriatric market? The S-Type, a friendly easy to drive retro model and ads like Gorgeous. Truly pathetic. Thanks for the 9B invested in retooling and design which led the way to quality improvements. Regarding Tata in comparison to Ford, one is a company that is making money and is a growing empire, one isn't. The wealth of what I know regarding the marque will be mailed off in a letter to the new owners hoping they have the vision and the business savvy to bring Jaguar into the 21st century even if it's a decade late to the party. Sunny
Absolutely. It was a chance for Jaguar to get back into the sports car business and capture a new generation of buyers. If I had been running Jag, I would have killed the cheap X-Type Mondeo-knockoff and launched a $50K-$60K F-Type with Boxster S performance but real Jag interior quality (none of Porsche's appalling plastic 996/997-era trash interiors). Instead they squandered their heritage and made Lincoln-based cars for blue-haired ladies (no offense to all the blue-haired ladies on FChat...) and realtors.
