- Premier Automotive Group
The Premier Automotive Group (PAG), is a group within the
Ford Motor Company that oversees thebusiness operations of Volvo [http://www.volvocars.com/corporation/Sustainability/GRI/Profile.htm Volvo Corporation General Reporting Initiative Profile] ] .Previously, PAG was responsible for Lincoln,
Aston Martin , Jaguar andLand Rover ; Lincoln was taken back into Ford direct control, and Aston Martin was sold. In September 2006 the Rover brand was secured fromBMW by PAG, to protect the Land Rover brand. In May 2008 Jaguar and Land Rover were sold toTata Motors .Group structure
PAG is based in
London , and its North American headquarters are located in Irvine,California . The PAG office in the U.S. is the first Ford building, and the first building in Orange County, to qualify forLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design Certification from theU.S. Green Building Council Fact|date=June 2008. When the headquarters first opened, some of its floors were each specifically dedicated to one of PAG's brands. The U.S. office only handled the operations of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands until their sale.Fact|date=January 2008.Management
PAG is currently headed by
Lewis W.K. Booth .* 1999-2002
Wolfgang Reitzle
* 2002-2005 Mark Fields
* 2005-presentLewis Booth ale of Jaguar and Land Rover
Ford accepted the deal to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to the
Tata Group in March 2008 for £1.15 Billion.Previous members
Aston Martin
Aston Martin was a member of PAG until it was sold into private ownership on12 March 2007 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6442101.stm BBC News Article] ] for £479 million.Lincoln
Ford's luxury car division Lincoln was part of the Premier Auto Group as well in the late 1990s, but was pulled out in 2002 as part of Ford's marketing strategy to separate its "import" marques from its domestic ones. During the creation of PAG, Lincoln's line-up received a complete overhaul, beginning with the 1998 redesign of the
Lincoln Town Car . The same year also saw the introduction of the Lincoln Navigator SUV and in 2000 theLincoln LS , which shared its engines and platform with theJaguar S-Type , was introduced. All three cars were designed inIrvine, California and were, according to many critics, heavily influenced by Jaguar design themesref|CaliforniaDesign. In both years 1998 and 2000 Lincoln was the best selling luxury car brand in the US. AfterCadillac surged back into the market in 2002, however, Ford pulled Lincoln out of the PAG in what is according toJerry Flint ofForbes Magazine an "impossible to make sense out of... strategy."ecuring the Rover brand
On 18th September 2006, Ford announced the purchase of the Rover brand name from
BMW . As part of Ford's initial purchase ofLand Rover in 2000, Ford had the option to veto the sale of the Rover name by BMW to any other company. BMW originally intended to sell the Rover name toShanghai Automotive Industry Corporation , but had to wait 90 days to allow Ford time to discuss the deal. Ford decided in the end to buy the name outright. However, Ford did not plan to use the name in production, instead buying it merely to protect their use of the nameLand Rover . [ [http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/09/18/ford-buys-rover-brand-name-from-bmw/ Ford buys Rover brand name from BMW ] ]As part of Ford's sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata, the Rover brand name was included in the deal, as well as the Daimler and Lanchester [citeweb | url = http://www.leftlanenews.com/5-for-2-special-tata-acquires-3-other-british-marques-in-jaguar-land-rover-deal.html#more-6922 | title = 5 for 2 special: Tata acquires 3 other British marques in Jaguar, Land Rover deal | publisher = Leftlane News | date = 28 March 2008 | accessdate = 2008-03-28]
External links
* [http://www.ford.com/en/company/about/brands/default.htm Ford brands]
References
* [http://www.autointell.com/News-2001/November-2001/November-2001-2/November-14-01-p2.htm "Ford Opens PAG Headquarters In California" from autointell.com]
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/104/104853.html Ford PAG on Yahoo! Finance]
* [http://www.forbes.com/columnists/columnists/2004/07/27/cz_jf_0727flint.html/ Lincoln in the PAG]
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