“It’s clear that at some point investors holding equity in an independent company need to devise an exit, and this exit is an IPO that we will do when the time is right,” Chief Executive Ulrich Bez told Reuters on Tuesday.

“Aston Martin is working on achieving a valuation comparable to a luxury goods maker.” Ford Motor Co (F.N) sold Aston Martin for 479 million pounds ($756 million) in March 2007, to a consortium led by David Richards — former Formula 1 Benetton and BAR racing boss — as well as two Kuwaiti funds.

In an interview at the Frankfurt auto show, Bez said he would hope the Lagonda brand would duplicate the success of the sports car maker’s other models, which sold just 600 in 2000 when he took over — almost all in the UK.

“Just as we have revived Aston Martin over the past 10 years, we could do the same with Lagonda. But we would need investors to finance it since we cannot, using just our own cashflow,” he said. “They do not necessarily need to own shares in Aston Martin directly, they could provide funding as limited partners, so a finance investor would be preferable.”

Provided there is a win-win situation for Aston and German carmaker Daimler, the Lagonda could be built using the same architecture as the Mercedes-Benz GL full-size SUV.

When asked about Aston’s international expansion plans, Bez said the company was focused on breaking into the Chinese luxury sports car market, where he expects sales could match those of its domestic UK market almost overnight.

“Two months ago we received the import license we need to officially export cars to China,” he said. “By the end of next year we plan to have 12-15 dealers selling about 1,000 cars, which will constitute about 20 percent of the roughly 5,000 we expect to sell worldwide that year.”

Bez wants a diversified geographical footprint, with a fifth of the sales in China, a fifth in the UK, a fifth in the rest of Europe and a fifth in North America.

Come next year, Aston’s Rapide will also become a genuine “Made in the UK” car, when production of the sleek four-door is moved to Gaydon, central England, from Magna’s MGa.TO Steyr facility in Graz, Austria. “We’ve massively increased the efficiency of Gaydon, especially in the paint shop,” he explained.

Also known for is DBS Volante cabrio and the extravagantly expensive One-77, Aston Martin premiered the V12 Zagato — retailing at 330,000 pounds before tax — at the Frankfurt show.

Jaguar sold 1,246 cars in December in the U.S., a 24% increase from last year. Land Rover sold 3,595 of its rugged SUVs, a 37% boost from a year ago. For the full year, combined sales of both brands dipped 14%, not bad considering how the overall auto industry saw sales plunge even more. Needless to say, execs are happy:

“Three consecutive months of Jaguar and Land Rover growth is a great way to end 2009, and a sign of better times to come,” said Jaguar-Land Rover North America President Gary Temple. “We start 2010 with sales momentum, strong product lineups for both brands, and the launch of the 2011 Jaguar XJ on its way. It is going to be a very exciting year.”

Jaguar and Land Rover are owned by a company now best known as the maker of the world’s cheapest car, the $2,500 Nano that plies the rough roads of India. Many were unsure what would happen to the storied British brands in the hands of a third-world automaker. But Tata looks like it’s succeeding — so far.

Following in the footsteps of MG Rover’s sale to Shanghai Automotive and Nanjing Automobile, the potential deal marks the latest move by a fast-expanding Chinese car maker to boost its presence in Europe.

Negotiations have been ongoing for some time, and it is understood Ford was only willing to enter into discussions once it had evaluated the firm’s Chinese operations. Now the green light has been given, the future of Volvo and the launch of promising upcoming models such as the S60 should be secure.

The move will also benefit Geely. Volvo’s research and development expertise and engineering skills will be a huge bonus, as its main interests are in improved quality and safety.

Geely is the largest privately owned car company in China, and has grown at an astonishing rate since making its first passenger car in August 1998. In 1999 it built 2,000 vehicles; in 2009 production should hit 300,000.

Whereas rival Chinese car makers tend to buy licenses and import technology, Geely has developed its own engines and is the only Chinese firm with its own automatic transmissions.

As I grew older and started driving, I was drawn to European sports cars. The first two that I owned were used Triumphs, which were all that I could afford at the time. What I really lusted after, though, was one of the Jaguar XK120s that I had fallen in love with at Golden Gate Park. But Jags were too expensive for my wallet at the time. Besides that, they had a reputation for mechanical failure and were expensive to fix. As I got older my attraction to sports cars remained strong but switched from British to German. During my thirties and forties I owned a BMW and two Porsches. These were relatively expensive cars that would have been out of my league if I had purchased them new from a dealer.

About five years ago I started getting a hankering for something different. I still enjoyed the sports car experience, but this time I wanted something a little bit more refined, smoother, quieter and easier to drive. My research showed me that a Jaguar XK8 might meet my needs. In the late 1980s Jaguar was purchased by Ford Motor company, and they totally redeveloped the line. They got rid of the old mechanical elements that were so unreliable and difficult to maintain, but the kept the traditional looks of the old Jaguar line in retro form. The XK8 is similar in appearance to the Jaguar XKEs of the 1960s and ’70s, which in turn were an evolution of the original XK120s. The interior, although much more refined than its predecessors, still bears the signature burl wood dash of the old XKs that I first saw in Golden Gate Park 50 years ago.

One of the interesting things about the XK8 is that it was the first eight-cylinder production car ever made by Jaguar. Although V8s were a mainstay of most U.S. manufacturers for decades, Jags had always sported six, 10 and 12 cylinders; this model was really a departure for the company. It was also one of the first brand-new models developed under Ford’s ownership regime, so perhaps it has a bit of Detroit under the hood.

To me the lines of the XK8 are beautiful, the engine is quiet but powerful and the handling is tight. The ergonomics make every thing smooth and easy. When you open and close the doors they automatically crack open slightly because the fit is so tight. The top is fully automatic and goes up and down in seconds. These are some of the niceties of upper-level vehicles whose costs are often prohibitive.

This car cost around $75,000 when it was new in 1999, and I bought it in 2004 with 20,000 miles on it for $30,000 and it was in excellent condition. This is a big savings for a car with such low mileage. I have often thought about why the car was so inexpensive, and it is probably due to Jaguar’s poor reputation during the 20 or so years prior to Ford’s buyout. I’ve owned the car for almost five years and have had no major problems. I’m totally happy with it and will probably keep for a long time. Its well sculptured lines give it a unique look. It is as reliable as any other brand in its class. I think it was – and still is – a steal of a deal.

From San Francisco Chronicle. Cal Tabucchi, 66, taught junior high school in Los Gatos for 28 years and sold real estate for the next 10 years. He recently retired and currently lives in Aptos.

Three former British champions and four former British historic champions are all in the entry for the event that tackles 50 miles of prime Welsh forest roads in just four special stages. It promises to be a fabulous start to the 2009 season.

Category 1
Category one is for the oldest cars, from the pre ’68 era, and they run first on the road with a short gap before the rest of the historic field. Top of the tree is the Porsche 911 of former champions Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride, but they can expect a stern challenge from the similar car of team mates Stuart Rolt/Richard Pomfret, making a rare but welcome BHRC appearance.

Lining up against the Porsches will be the former championship winning Sunbeam Tiger, now in the hands of Jonathan Gale, who is co-driven by his father Graham for his debut rally in the ex-Patrick Watts car. Meanwhile, Russell Brookes, a winner of this rally 20 years ago, is having a one-off run in the Porsche 911 of Steve Perez, with Neil Wilson alongside.

Local driver Gwilym Roberts heads the B4 field in his Lotus Cortina, partnered by Gwawr Hughes, but the amazing Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Gill Cotton will be hustled through the forests in fine style. James Stait heads the B2 pack in his MG Midget, while local crew Gary and Jane Edgington from Corwen top the B1 field in their wonderful Singer Chamois.

Category 2
In category two, for the post-historic cars, it is Ford Escort Mk1s against Porsche 911s at the head of the category. In the Escort brigade, BHRC debutant David Higgins, partnered by Ieuan Thomas, should really fly in one of Mark Solloway’s Mk1 Escorts. David Stokes and Guy Weaver have already scored two great results this season in warm-up events, so they will be fully match fit. But with rivalry from Rupert Lomax/David Alcock and Rikki Proffitt/Phill Harrison, it will be very hard fought. Also in C5 is the beautiful Lancia Stratos of Steve Perez/Paul Spooner.

Jeremy Easson has switched to his stunning Ford Capri RS3100 and will be a real crowd favourite, but goes up against at least five Porsche 911s in class C4. Tim Mason/Graham Wild and Andrew Haddon/Mark Crisp are established pacesetters, while the newly completed 911 of Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne could also be a major contender.

Class C3 is dominated by the 2-litre Pinto-powered Escort Mk1s and there are as many as seven potential class winners in what will surely be one of the most competitive classes of the rally. Pick a winner from Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes, Russell Morgan/Martin Kenyon, James Young/David Young, Neal James/Kevin Jones, Tim Jones/Don James, Andrew Siddall/Captain Thompson and Robin Shuttleworth/Mark Midgley. It will be a fierce contest!

In class C2 for the 1600cc cars, championship newcomers Richard Williams/Richard Ekin take on the similar Mk1 Escort of Tony Ginns/Mark Ellis.

Category 3
Leading the category three competitors away will be Gwyndaf Evans, partnered by Gareth Roberts in a fresh Mk2 Escort from the new company set up by World champion co-driver Phil Mills. No one knows these stages better than Gwyndaf, so expect him to fly on what is, at least initially, a one-off outing.
The line-up of established BHRC contenders is hugely impressive and it is the Ford Escort Mk2 crews of Darren Moon/Chris Parsons, Richard Hill/Patrick Cooper, Nick Elliott/Dave Price, Gareth Lloyd/Ryland James, Will Onions/Tim Hobbs and Simon Tysoe/Cliff Simmons that will be right on the pace. Then there is the Mk2 of Julian Reynolds/Ian Oakey, which could be the quickest of the lot. What is certain is that the pace in class D5 is going to be ferocious.

But no one should see D5 as just about Ford Escorts. The Vauxhall Chevette of Rob Smith/Shaun O’Gorman is sure to fly on its BHRC debut, with the car more than capable of shaking up the Escort ranks. Then there is the class D4 Triumph TR7 V8 of Mike Anderson/Alan Brown as the driver returns to forest rallying after a lengthy break.

In D3, for the Pinto-powered Escorts, Guy Woodcock/Iwan Jones should go well even though Guy has done very little gravel rallying in his long career. The D3 benchmark should be the similar Mk2 Escort of Richard Lane/Frank Richer. In D2, Jacob Scannell and Nina Thompson make their BHRC debut in a 1600cc Escort Mk2.

The Bulldog Historic Rally is organised by Wolverhampton and South Staffs Car Club and starts at 7.45am on Saturday 28 March from Llangollen. For more details about the event, please visit the website at: www.bulldog-rally.co.uk

“I happen to know the guy who was the COO at Jaguar in 2003 when we started making improvements,” said Fowler, who was, indeed, COO of Jaguar in 2003.

Today, Fowler is Ford’s group vice president of quality. Back then, Fowler and a team of executives put Ford processes in place at Jaguar to improve quality. Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Group in 2008, but J.D. Power’s dependability study evaluates three-year old, or 2006, models.

From Freep.com

The possible cuts of 300 full-time jobs along with “a similar number” of temporary positions are part of a discussion between the former Ford Motor Co. subsidiary and its trade union. Aston Martin also said it’s considering other undisclosed cutbacks related to worldwide economic woes and plunging sales.
“These are regrettable but necessary measures in the extraordinary market conditions we all now face,” Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez said in a statement.

The cutbacks come as the automaker seeks to revive the Lagonda luxury brand to diversify its product mix beyond sports cars.

Julian Jenkins, CEO of Aston Martin North America, said sales fell 19 percent through the first three quarters of 2008, while the ultraluxury segment dropped 21 percent.

The Warwickshire, England-based company has 1,850 employees worldwide. The company said a 90-day consultation period had been launched with the union Unite, and that the jobs would go in the new year.

In May of last year, Ford sold Aston Martin to a group that included motorsports investors David Richards and John Sinders and two Kuwait-based investment companies. Ford took its initial stake in Aston Martin in 1987.

PRESS RELEASE: Aston Marton announces job cuts

Gaydon, 1 December 2008 – Aston Martin and its Trade Union partners have today begun consultation on a range of cutbacks to reflect the current downturn in the world economy and the corresponding fall in car sales. It is hoped to do this by minimising the impact on employees as far as possible, but the possibility of up to 300 permanent and a similar number of temporary job losses cannot be ruled out.

Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez said: “Like other premium car brands, Aston Martin has been forced to take action to respond to the unprecedented downturn in the global economy. These are regrettable but necessary measures in the extraordinary market conditions we all now face.

“Overall we remain confident that the Aston Martin brand is the strongest it has ever been – with dedicated design, engineering and manufacturing facilities and an award-winning product range, we remain well positioned for the upturn in the economy.”

A source close to the American motor giant said it recently made a second approach to SAIC, which already owns the rights to the MG car marque. Earlier talks in the summer faltered over price. Ford, which bought Volvo for £4.4billion in 1999, is said to be hoping the sale will fetch £4 billion.

The disposal would send an important signal to the US Congress that Ford is taking major action to restructure its business in return for a massive cash injection.

‘Now that Ford is in dire straits this would be a good opportunity for SAIC to snap up Volvo on the cheap,’ said the source.

‘The price has dropped considerably since seeking a sale in the summer.’

Ford, Chrysler and General Motors are begging for a government lifeline of £23.1billion amid harsh trading conditions.

The US Congress will meet this week to evaluate the situation, with all three
of the car giants’ futures at stake.

Aaron Bragman, a car industry analyst with economic forecaster IHS Global Insight, said that though the companies had agreed to accept a significant measure of government control, including restructuring, any aid would not affect the sale of Volvo, which has 105 dealerships in the UK.

‘The sale of Volvo has become part of the conditions of Government assistance,’ he said.

A spokesman for Ford, which is being advised on the deal by financial services firm JPMorgan Chase, confirmed that the company was in talks with a Chinese car-maker, but declined to name SAIC.

A source at SAIC declined to comment. It is understood that Ford is also in talks with other potential bidders for Volvo, the last remaining brand in its premium auto group that had included Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover.

The bidders could include Indianbased Tata Motors, China-based Dongfeng Motor Group and South Korea-based Hyundai Motor, as well as private equity firms such as Texas Pacific Group.

This is not the story of Ford and General Motors, but British Leyland, a car company that went through £11 billion of inflation-adjusted British taxpayer money, or $16.5 billion, in the ’70s and ’80s before going out of business. All that is left of the company now are memories of cars like the Triumph, and a painful lesson in the limited effectiveness of bailouts.

“It’s all too evocative,” said Leon Brittan, a top official in the government of Margaret Thatcher, the free-market-minded prime minister who nevertheless backed the rescue. “I’m not telling the U.S. what to do, but the lessons of the British experience is don’t throw good money after bad. British Leyland carried on for a few more years, but they’re not there now, are they?”

Other experts are sounding the same alarm. “The British Leyland experience is a relevant and cautionary one,” said John Casesa, a principal in the automotive consulting firm Casesa Shapiro Group in New York. “The government got in the business of trying to make a winner out of a structurally flawed company. That’s the risk in the U.S. as well.”

Though Continental automakers have fared better than British ones, Mr. Casesa argues that the long history of government support in Europe made companies like Renault and Fiat strong players in their home markets, but not worldwide.

“With the exception of BMW and Mercedes, European automakers haven’t been globally successful,” he said. “Nor have they been hugely profitable.”

That comparative history is receiving new attention as Congress turns its attention this week to the fate of Detroit.

The British Leyland bailout remains the classic example of a futile government intervention. The tight cooperation between governments and automakers on the Continent has produced happier results.

For half a century after World War II, the French government was the majority stakeholder in Renault, and Paris still holds a 15 percent stake in the company. In the 1980s, the company received a bailout equal to nearly 4 billion euros, or $5.1 billion in today’s money. Now it is highly profitable — at least compared with its American counterparts.

Today, G.M.’s German subsidiary, Opel, is appealing to Berlin for help, seeking more than 1 billion euros in credit guarantees, according to Carl-Peter Forster, G.M.’s European chief.

Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said her government would make a decision before Christmas.

“It’s not decided yet whether these loan guarantees will become necessary,” Mrs. Merkel told reporters in Berlin after meeting with Mr. Forster and other management and labor officials.

“If these guarantees become necessary, those funds should remain within Opel” in Germany, she added, echoing a concern some Americans have expressed that any United States bailout money go only to American automakers.

So far, Asian companies have not complained that such a bailout would amount to an anticompetitive subsidy. But José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said last week that he thought an aid package for Detroit could be “illegal” under World Trade Organization rules.

That has not stopped European automakers from seeking 40 billion euros in loans from the European Investment Bank, ostensibly to help develop cleaner cars.

For Garel Rhys, head of the Center for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University in Wales, the trajectory of General Motors is reminiscent of British Leyland not only because of the former’s decision to seek aid to avert bankruptcy, but also for its slow, seemingly inexorable loss of market share. “Both had a history of being the biggest in their market but couldn’t adapt as they lost sales,” he said. “They couldn’t get customers back.”

Historically, British Leyland’s roots stretched back further than Henry Ford’s Model T. The company controlled 36 percent of the British market well into the 1970s, with mass-market brands like Austin and Morris and premium lines like MG and Jaguar. But rising competition from Japanese and German automakers, shoddy workmanship and a breakdown in labor relations brought the company to near bankruptcy by 1975, Mr. Rhys said.

Michael Edwardes, who took over as British Leyland’s chief executive in November 1977, recalled that when he joined, no one even knew whether individual brands were profitable. “It was a farce — no one knew what the costs were,” he said.

As it turned out, every MG the company sold in the United States resulted in a loss of $2,000 for British Leyland.

Wildcat strikes consumed more than 32 million worker-hours in 1977, and the company became a symbol of labor strife, with some employees walking out the door with spark plugs in their coat pockets and engines in the trunks of their cars, Mr. Edwardes said.

Mr. Edwardes immediately began reducing the company’s work force of roughly 200,000 — to 104,000 within five years — and closing 19 factories. He appealed to the Thatcher government for aid, arguing the money was needed if British Leyland was going to be able to afford to lay off workers while investing in new models.

Eventually, the government put up £3.6 billion, equal to £11 billion in today’s money. But the rescue did not do much to preserve British Leyland’s labor force or market share in the long term.

By the time it received its last government infusion of cash in 1988, Mr. Rhys said, British Leyland’s market share had slumped to 15 percent. British Leyland evolved into MG Rover, which was eventually acquired by BMW, then spun off, finally going bankrupt in 2005.

According to Mr. Rhys, just 22,000 workers remain at British Leyland’s successor companies, about 10 percent of its work force in the mid-1970s.

“It was a very poor return,” he said. “We felt collectively and nationally that we got our fingers burnt, and this was always used as a reason to avoid bailouts, both by Labor and Conservative governments in Britain.”

Mr. Edwardes still defends the government aid, arguing it preserved parts of the company that remain in business now — like Jaguar and Land Rover, which were bought by Ford.

Jaguar never made a profit for Ford, however, and was sold with Land Rover to Tata Motors of India earlier this year. Ford recouped only about half of what it paid to acquire the two brands, and is estimated to have poured $10 billion into Jaguar.

Despite the British experience, the case of Renault, which combined fresh money and new management in the 1980s, showed that government bailouts can be beneficial.

The French government help for Renault also came amid increasing losses for the company. But Mr. Rhys said that unlike British Leyland, Renault was able to use the financing to create new car models that were ultimately successful. That, along with tough cost-cutting by a newly installed chairman, cleared the road to profitability by the time the government began privatizing Renault in the 1990s.

If Washington does go ahead and help Detroit, Mr. Edwardes said, it is crucial that the government overhaul the management of the Big Three. “Throwing money at them isn’t enough,” he said. “They need money and they need new management. They need both, not one or the other.”

From: A British Lesson on Auto Bailouts By Nelson D. Schwartz in the NY Times.

As the article says, “A merger would be a historic event, with two of the most iconic names in American industry coming together to survive in an increasingly difficult environment. Both have roots dating back decades in Detroit and, with Ford, long dominated the auto industry — until Japanese and other foreign car makers began making inroads into the American market.”

Amazing times we live in.

Oh, and on another front, I dreamed last night that MG started producing a minivan and a Hummer-like SUV. Please, say it ain’t so. I need to stop eating spicy food before bedtime.