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Premier Automotive Group
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The Premier Automotive Group (PAG), is a group within the Ford Motor Company that oversees the business operations of Volvo.
Previously, PAG was responsible for Lincoln, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover; Lincoln was taken back into Ford direct control, and Aston Martin was sold. In September 2006 the Rover brand was secured from BMW by PAG, to protect the Land Rover brand. In May 2008 Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata Motors.
is based in London, and its North American headquarters are located in Irvine, California.
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Encyclopedia
The Premier Automotive Group (PAG), is a group within the Ford Motor Company that oversees the business operations of Volvo.
Previously, PAG was responsible for Lincoln, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover; Lincoln was taken back into Ford direct control, and Aston Martin was sold. In September 2006 the Rover brand was secured from BMW by PAG, to protect the Land Rover brand. In May 2008 Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata Motors.
Group structure
PAG is based in London, and its North American headquarters are located in Irvine, California. The PAG office in the United States is the first Ford building, and the first building in Orange County, to qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. When the headquarters first opened, some of its floors were each specifically dedicated to one of PAG's brands. .
In late 2008, a deal was announced to lease the former PAG headquarters building in Irvine to the Taco Bell restaurant chain. Although Ford planned to leave a small product development staff on the property, this was widely seen as the end of the PAG story and an ironic comment on the expensive failure of Ford's luxury-car strategy. The New York Times asked drily, "Will they install a drive-up window?"
Management
PAG is currently headed by Lewis W.K. Booth. Previous management has been:
Sale 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 on 12 March 2007 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 the Lincoln LS, which shared its engines and platform with the Jaguar S-Type, was introduced. All three cars were designed in Irvine, California and were, according to many critics, heavily influenced by Jaguar design themes. In both years 1998 and 2000 Lincoln was the best selling luxury car brand in the US. After Cadillac surged back into the market in 2002, however, Ford pulled Lincoln out of the PAG in what is according to Jerry Flint of Forbes Magazine an "impossible to make sense out of... strategy."
Securing the Rover brand
On 18 September 2006, Ford announced the purchase of the Rover brand name from BMW. As part of Ford's initial purchase of Land 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 to Shanghai 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 name Land Rover.
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 marques.
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