Ford: No announcement yet on Jaguar and Land Rover

Car giant Ford will not make an announcement about the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover subsidiaries until late this year or perhaps early 2008, the head of the company’s European operations said today.

“It’s a very orderly process,” Lewis Booth, executive vice president of Ford’s European units said, adding that Ford was in the middle of its strategic review of Volvo for potential sale.

Speaking to reporters in a round-table conference in Dearborn, Michigan, with the rest of Ford’s top managers, Booth said he could not go into more detail about the possible sales.

Earlier this month, former Ford president and chief operating officer Nick Scheele joined with New York-based Ripplewood Holdings in its bid for Jaguar and Land Rover.

Scheele served as Ford’s president and chief operating officer from 2001 until his retirement in 2005. He also led Jaguar from 1992 to 1999.

Scheele’s involvement pits him against Jacques Nasser, who was Ford’s chief executive from 1999 to 2001. Nasser is leading a separate bid by One Equity Partners, which manages private equity investments for JPMorgan Chase & Co, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Ford bought Jaguar in 1989 and Land Rover in 2000, joining them with Aston Martin and Volvo to form its Premier Automotive Group. But the carmaker lost €9.3bn last year and has said it expects to burn up €11bn to €11.8bn in cash before returning to profitability some time in 2009.

Earlier this month Ford said it completed the sale of its controlling stake in Aston Martin for €685m in cash and preferred stock.

The company has taken opening bids for Jaguar and Land Rover and Ford president and chief executive Alan Mulally said in late July that the probability of selling the brands was greater than 50%.