Land Rover is Britain’s last
prized vehicle manufacturing success. In decades that have seen the ignominious
disintegration of the country’s once flourishing industry, the marque stands proudly
as one of Britain’s most notable achievements.It is not surprising, therefore,
that having been passed around like an unwanted child by a succession of inefficient,
feeble and downright opportunist companies, its future causes some misgiving.
Fortunately it has resilience – even in its brief period under the BMW banner
it survived and prospered whilst its saloon car stable-mate suffered all kinds
of indignities.
Now we have another change,
and like the proverbial parent, Britain hopes that this new ‘foster-mother’,
the mighty Ford Motor Company, will take greater care of its favourite child.
Mindful of Ford’s transformation of Jaguar, Land Rover’s future looks assured,
but the strides made by the Big Cat have tended to overshadow problems with
some of the other products in the blue oval portfolio.
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First, though, the positive
side. A couple of years ago, with the declared intention of moving up-market
into more comfortable profitability, Jac Nasser, Ford CEO, formed the Premier
Automotive Group, separating Ford from non-Ford, as it were. Originally intended
to give that extra impetus to the Lincoln and Mercury divisions, it was soon
expanded to embrace Jaguar, Aston-Martin and the newly-acquired Volvo. The intention
now is that Land Rover, too, shall join forces with these quality makes. It
will be joining an ambitious and focused team, one well able to exploit its
new acquisition. PAG’s 1999 sales reached just over 600,000 units. The mid-term aim is for 1m units – a nice round figure
– by 2004.
Back in 1998, the ‘front
office’ of the Lincoln/Mercury brands was transferred from the East Coast to
California. Now, under Wolfgang Reitzle’s forceful leadership, the whole of
PAG is to be housed on the West Coast in newly-built headquarters in Irvine,
California, adjacent to the existing Mazda North American operation, incorporating
not only marketing but an advanced styling studio.
Reitzle maintains that having
all his charges under one roof will effect substantial savings in costs and
purchasing, but most of all will encourage the informal exchange of ideas between
executives of each brand. “You can better approach the market when all four
[now five, of course] brands are orchestrated,” he says.
For some indefinable reason,
California has come to betoken exciting new trends in car design and styling.
Most of the Japanese and Korean manufacturers have their American headquarters
on the West Coast, and even General Motors is tending towards a similar move
with its new design studio in North Hollywood, California.
Ford had already figured
out the jigsaw into which these former competitors will fit. Lincoln represents
‘American luxury’, Volvo ‘For life’, Jaguar ‘The art of performance’, and Aston
Martin ‘The most exclusive club’. Dreaming up a by-line for Land Rover should
not be difficult, and although both Lincoln and Mercury have their own sport
utilities, neither should there be much difficulty in slotting Land Rover into
the pattern.
Mercury remains the anomaly.
Starved of new product for the foreseeable future and clearly mismatched in
this stellar galaxy of luxury cars, it suffers the further indignity of looking
to Reitzle as its ‘administrative’ parent but to the main Ford division for
marketing guidance. It can be of little comfort that last year under Ford’s
suffocating weight, its Sable was outsold by the look-alike Ford Taurus by a
margin of four to one.
But then neither has this
been a particularly good time for Lincoln. Like its main competitor Cadillac,
in 1999 it was outsold for the first time by both Mercedes and Lexus but, reinforced
by the new mid-size LS and the Navigator, it is now fighting back, outselling
both foreign makes in the early months of 2000. One does question the sagacity
of Reitzle’s decision to market the LS in Europe, bearing in mind Cadillac’s
listless performance there. Generally speaking, America’s cars do not travel
well, especially to Europe. All the makes under the Premier umbrella (except
Mercury) have plans for an extension of their ranges, even Aston Martin. But
Vic Doolan, Premier North American marketing supremo, tells us that Jaguar will
not be in the sport utility market: “Jaguar can be the quintessential epitome
of art and performance, which doesn’t need sport-utilities or estate wagons.”
Rather grandiloquently put, but we get the message. Thank goodness some things
are sacred!
It may sound churlish to
question Ford’s handling of the Jaguar marque, but the rumours that its new
X400 small car will use the engine, transmission and suspension, not to mention
the platform, from the next generation Mondeo must raise a few eyebrows. The
last thing Ford needs is for this eagerly-awaited newcomer to be lampooned as
a ‘Mondeo with steroids’.
Jaguar, of course, should
make great headway in the next few years. From an all-time low of just 8,000
sales in the United States in 1992, 40,000 is well within reach for the current
year, with the ‘S’ type now in full flow.
Volvo stands out as the
most intriguing partner in the Premier alliance. The S40 and V40 are priced
competitively for the American market, the first Volvos to come in below $25,000
for a long time, and Volvo is to join the ‘SUV club’ in 2003. Against sales
of only 125,000 units in 1999, the 2004 target is said to be 200,000. It’s an
uphill battle and Volvo will need all the expertise of Ford in helping with
one notorious weakness, its puny performance in the Mid-West.
On the face of it, the new
recruit Land Rover seem to be a perfect fit for Jaguar, appealing to the same
demographics, but Reitzle’s plans to combine the two in dealerships seems certain
to provoke disquiet in the franchise.
Overall, Mother Britain
may feel quietly confident that Land Rover has at long last found a home where
its unique qualities will be appreciated and nourished. Despite recurring quality
problems over the years, it still has a loyal following. That it has survived
and flourished throughout the vicissitudes of the past 40 years is nothing short
of astonishing.
