Ford Finally Sells Jaguar and Land Rover
And, I couldn't be happier for them. Hubris led to the acquisition of these brands and now Ford sells them with its proverbial tail between its legs. Ford's management of these premiere brands was nothing short of utter incompetence. As was the lack of due diligence before the acquisition in the first place. Maybe Tata's management will be less brain dead than that of Ford. I think Tata's management is in over its head but I'm willing to give them a chance. These brands don't have to be relegated to constant losses and staid designs. I really liked the mid-sized Jaguar that was build on a Ford Taurus platform. That was a real winner. If Ford could have only foreseen the mess before us and sold Volvo at the height of the merger mania in 2006 and 2007.
Of course, this is nothing compared to the egotistical $38 billion acquisition that Daimler made of Chrysler. Mercedes decided it wanted to increase its brand awareness and build brand value by making K-cars. Only to turn around and effectively pay Cerberus to take Chrysler off of its hands a decade later. Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Both moves were encouraged by Wall Street's pumping investment banks that made enormous fees. And, we all hailed the brilliance of automotive consolidation and 'bigger is better'. Daimler and Chrysler were going to share engineering and purchasing to reduce costs. Just like Ford and Jaguar. In other words, Daimler was going to use a $12,000 car's platform as the foundation for its S-Class cars and put Mercedes door handles on a $9,000 economy car. Nice!
And, what did Daimler chairman Schrempp get for that brilliant move? One hell of a great retirement package. In fact, don't quote me but I believe he actually received significant compensation under the give away of Chrysler to Cerberus. (Isn't it great that a company can pay $38 billion for another company and screw it up so badly that they effectively give it away? Of course, they'd never tell us that.) And, what did Wall Street get? Massive bonuses and fees for putting the deals together. And, what did shareholders get? Ten years of pain. And, what did employees get? Mass layoffs due to incompetent management.
Ah, but life is good. It's all good.
Of course, this is nothing compared to the egotistical $38 billion acquisition that Daimler made of Chrysler. Mercedes decided it wanted to increase its brand awareness and build brand value by making K-cars. Only to turn around and effectively pay Cerberus to take Chrysler off of its hands a decade later. Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Both moves were encouraged by Wall Street's pumping investment banks that made enormous fees. And, we all hailed the brilliance of automotive consolidation and 'bigger is better'. Daimler and Chrysler were going to share engineering and purchasing to reduce costs. Just like Ford and Jaguar. In other words, Daimler was going to use a $12,000 car's platform as the foundation for its S-Class cars and put Mercedes door handles on a $9,000 economy car. Nice!
And, what did Daimler chairman Schrempp get for that brilliant move? One hell of a great retirement package. In fact, don't quote me but I believe he actually received significant compensation under the give away of Chrysler to Cerberus. (Isn't it great that a company can pay $38 billion for another company and screw it up so badly that they effectively give it away? Of course, they'd never tell us that.) And, what did Wall Street get? Massive bonuses and fees for putting the deals together. And, what did shareholders get? Ten years of pain. And, what did employees get? Mass layoffs due to incompetent management.
Ah, but life is good. It's all good.
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