| Fairy Godfather spurns Land Rover |
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Sorry all you Range Rover fans – your luxury 4×4 is not worth the gas it’s guzzling. At least that’s the inference that could be drawn from Fiat’s rejecting an opportunity to buy Land Rover from the troubled Ford group. In a deal intended to inject some much-needed cash into its coffers, Ford has for several months been trying to woo the Italian car-maker into taking Land Rover and Jaguar off its hands. But Fiat has just pulled the plug on the talks after concluding that the purchase of the two luxury marques would lower its credit rating - and this from a company that a few short years ago was returning pallets for the much-needed deposits. But so successful has been Fiat’s recent turnaround that it is one short step away from securing a BBB-minus rating from Standard and Poor’s – the world’s foremost independent provider of credit ratings. BBB-minus sounds a bit like ‘Must do better’ on a school report, but in fact it is the lowest investment grade, and achieving it would make it easier and cheaper for Fiat to borrow money. Secret talks between Ford of Europe’s chairman, Lewis Booth, and Fiat’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne, have been on-going since February, fuelled (excuse the pun) by Fiat’s wish to become a serious player in the expanding SUV market. Obviously the acquisition of Land Rover would have elevated the Italian company to pole position overnight. Fiat were also interested in using Land Rover’s dealer network in North America as ready-made outlets for Alfa Romeo, in line with a planned US re-launch. Fiat’s interest in Jaguar was largely limited to its engines and rear-drive platforms, encouraged, no doubt, by the prospect of a BOGOF deal – Buy One, Get One Free. So Land Rover fans must for the moment remain fans, and not tifosi. But as Ford’s crown jewels are now up for grabs on the open market, who knows what language might eventually be spoken at Solihull and Browns Lane.
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