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...cars have as much riding on them as the new, British-made Range Rover. As Land Rover's top-line model, the Range Rover has epitomized posh sports-utility vehicles since its 1970 debut, years before Lexus and BMW knew what SUVS were. And a lot is expected of a car that took five years and $1.4 billion to develop. But it looks as if the Range Rover - with a base price of $61,000 - can handle the pressure. Advance orders in Britain have hit 1,790, and production has been boosted 17% to 700 units a week even before...
...Ford Motor Co., which bought loss-making Land Rover from BMW for $2.6 billion in 2000, must be relieved. Especially since Ford, which lost $5.45 billion last year, is making Range Rover and other luxury European models central to its latest restructuring plan. By 2005, the U.S. automaker wants its Premier Automotive Group (PAG) - Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo and Aston Martin, plus Lincoln, its upmarket American marque - to contribute 35% of its profits, up from a current 13%. To accomplish that, overall sales of the five brands must soar 51%. That's a tough goal, but PAG president Wolfgang Reitzle...
Still, Ford needs to sell more PAG cars, and that "all depends on consumers," says Garel Rhys, an industry expert at the Cardiff Business School. "The cars have to be aspirational." Demand has to be kept high and slightly ahead of supply. Rivals like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus have moderate to expensive models under one brand, but with its PAG cars, Ford offers a similar price range divided among four brands. Reitzle says his products fit into every premium niche and still retain their exclusivity. While competitors are stretching - and possibly overstretching - their brands from...
...corporate transparency and our customers' and shareholders' interest in the company," VW said when the restructuring was announced last year. In fact, for a high-volume manufacturer, VW had a pretty good year in 2001. Return on sales was a robust 5%, about the same as Peugeot, but behind BMW's 7% and Porsche's double digits. Pischetsrieder says he wants to boost the company's return on investment from the current 7-8% to a figure above...
...European car market, has its work cut out for it in trying to increase its market share against low-end competitors like Fiat, Ford and Japanese imports. Now luxury competitors are pushing their marques into the compact-car market too, including the Mercedes' A-Class and BMW's One-series, further encroaching on Volkswagen's territory. It's no wonder the People's Car-maker decided to fight back by launching a challenge in the luxury sector. But as beautiful as it looks, does the Phaeton stand a chance against the established luxury champs? The people will decide...