Aston Martin
Aston Martin was a member of PAG. Ford acquired an interest in Aston Martin in 1987 and had full control from 1991. It was sold on 12 March 2007 for £479 million.[4] However, Ford retained a £40 million (8%) stake in Aston Martin.[8]
Lincoln
Ford's luxury car division, Lincoln, was part of the Premier Auto Group 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 in the market in 2002, however, Ford pulled Lincoln out of the PAG in what is according to Jerry Flint of Forbes magazine a strategy beyond comprehension.[2]
Jaguar
Ford made an offer for Jaguar stock in 1989. It was placed in Premier Automotive Group when it was formed. After acquiring Land Rover, Ford marketed Jaguar and Land Rover together and sold them off in 2008.
Land Rover
Ford acquired Land Rover from BMW in 2000 after the break-up of the former Rover Group. On 18 September 2006, Ford announced the purchase of the rights to use the Rover name. BMW had licensed the Rover name to MG Rover Group from 2000 until 2005, when MG Rover collapsed after a failed merger with SAIC. As part of Ford's initial purchase of Land Rover, Ford had the first option to purchase the Rover name if MG Rover Group ceased trading. Ford did not plan to use the name in production, instead buying it merely to protect their use of the name Land Rover.[9]
Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors in March 2008 for £1.15 billion. As part of Ford's sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors, the defunct Rover brand name was included, as well as the Daimler
Volvo Cars
Ford acquired Volvo's automotive division in 1999, and Volvo's commercial vehicles division became a separate company — the two sharing symbols and trademarks.
With Volvo engineers, Ford was able to adapt Volvo's Haldex AWD to Ford models as well as adapt the Volvo P2 Platform to its D3 and D4 Platforms — used for the Ford Five Hundred, Taurus X, Flex and Explorer as well as the Lincoln MKS, MKT.
Volvo engineers incorporated numerous Volvo safety innovations in to these vehicles including a bolt-in hydroformed cross-car steel beam between the B-pillars directly below an identical reinforced roof crossbeam above the B-pillars, to channel impact forces around the passenger compartment. Ford marketed the system as its SPACE Architecture (Side Protection and Cabin Enhancement), what Volvo called its Side Impact Protection System (SIPS). Front frame rails were redesigned to better absorb impact forces, and Volvo also co-engineered collapsible steering columns and roof-mounted airbags.[11]
Initially, Ford achieved only a tepid market with its D3 vehicles, though after the PAG group divested itself of Volvo, the Fifth Generation Explorer enjoyed broad market success.
