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Ford Eyeing Options on Jaguar, Land Rover

Ford Motor Co. is conferring with investment bankers about options for its Jaguar and Land Rover units, a spokesman said, according to Bloomberg News.

"We're not ruling anything in or out," spokesman John Gardiner said in an interview last Tuesday. He declined to identify the investment bankers, Bloomberg said.

Ford is seeking buyers for its European-based Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo luxury brands, two people familiar with the strategy said.

Ford is trying to return to profitability after a record $12.6 billion loss last year. Most of the losses came in its North American automotive operations, where sales of pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles, Ford's main source of profits, have declined, Bloomberg said.

Ford said last Thursday that 27,000 U.S. hourly factory workers have left the company since it offered buyouts and early retirements in 2006 to help stem losses, Bloomberg reported. Ford wants to lower operating costs by $5 billion by the end of 2008, including the job cuts.

"It's pretty important they go through with it," said analyst John Novak with Morningstar Investment Service Inc. in Chicago, referring to Ford's buyout program.

Novak estimated that Ford spends about $100,000 in annual wages and benefits for each hourly factory worker represented by the United Auto Workers union, Bloomberg said. L&MT