Ford Sells off Aston Martin

The hugely talked about ford policies has found its place again, under the scanner. One of the most popular car of the century: Aston Martin, a sports car marque is being sold by Ford.

According to the statement made by its chief executive officer Mr. Bill Ford, the company has decided to part with its British luxury-car brand as it finds, raising money for its North American turnaround would be much more beneficial. Analysts also expect Ford to unload Jaguar.

Selling some or all of Aston Martin, which was founded in London in 1913, objectify any sale would be to position Aston Martin within a structure and resource base sufficient to allow it to reach its full potential, while enabling Ford to efficiently raise capital for its other brands.

Since Aston Martin’s dealer network, product architecture and size are distinctly different from other Ford brands, it looks as if it is the most logical and capital-smart divestiture choice.

Ford said it has not set an asking price for Aston Martin, and analysts could not immediately estimate how much it is likely to fetch. Ford could benefit from selling Aston Martin, which has about 100 dealers worldwide and sold 4,500 vehicles last year, a record for the brand.

Jaguar and Aston Martin are included now in Ford’s European luxury unit, called the Premier Automotive Group, which also includes Volvo and Land Rover. In a regulatory filing this month, Ford said it expects the group to be unprofitable overall in 2006 because of declining sales for all but the Aston Martin brand.

Ford purchased 75 percent of Aston Martin in 1987 for an undisclosed amount, and assumed ownership of the rest in 1994. It opened a new factory for the brand that year in Bloxham, England, not far from Aston Martin’s headquarters in the village of Gaydon. Ford recruited a former Porsche executive, Ulrich Bez, to head Aston Martin, which sells three models: the $110,000 V8 Vantage, the $165,000 DB9 and the $260,000 V12 Vanquish.

Lets hope that the divestitures should favor the company’s policies on the right track, and bring back the profit arena for Ford which had once existed.