Ford Motor Company is to sell off its London Premier Automotive Group (PAG) headquarters and 51 concept cars, according to a report in today#;s Daily Telegraph.
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“These are straitened times indeed at Ford,” the London-based newspaper#;s City Diary column said, adding that “top executives now travel business class, biscuits are banned at meetings, the Berkeley Square offices of its Premier Automotive Group are up for sale and now the company is selling off the family silver.”
The Daily Telegraph said that Christies in New York would auction 51 Ford concept cars in Detroit on June 16, describing the sale as “an almost unheard-of sale of unique cars”.
“Most companies spend millions tracking down their concept cars, restoring them and exhibiting them in museums, not selling them,” the paper added.
The Daily Telegraph said the concepts up for auction include a Lagonda Vignale Tourer and the revamped Ford Thunderbird and GT40.
A Ford UK spokesman did not deny details in the report, saying that the sale of the 51 concept cars had been widely publicised, especially in the US.
Proceeds would go to charity as part of Ford#;s 100th birthday celebrations which begin next year, he added.
The spokesman also confirmed that “a variety of cost-saving actions” have been put in place at the giant car company though restrictions on business class air travel “depend on the distance”.
A PAG spokesman could not be reached for comment.
