I think Ford actually wants cash, not vague promises or junk bonds. Branson
plays a rich guy on TV, but I am not sure he could come up with the Billions
in cash Ford is asking for. Branson's cash flow allows him to appear rich,
but what do you suppose would happen if all his creditors decided to call in
their loans?  The only way Branson could buy something like Jaguar from Ford
would be to get together a capital investment group. Ford's former CEO,
Nasser is making such a bid, but Ford isn't interested because they aren't
able to pay in cash. They want to give Ford a bunch of junk bonds - which
Ford doesn't need. I wish there was some way Nasser could come up with
Jaguar (and Land Rover). I'd love to see him try to make money running
Jaguar. After all, he is the nitwit that saddled Ford with it in the first
place. Before Nasser starting making the calls, Ford was planning to launch
upscale models in Europe under the Lincoln brand. Nasser tried to buy names
instead, and all it did was cost money. Even Volvo has not paid any
dividends directly, although at least Ford has been able to take advantage
of some of the Volvo design talent.

I still wonder why the Indians think they can succeed where so many others
have failed. I am guessing that eventually they think they can sell Jaguars
and Land Rovers in India in large numbers because of the "names." So for
them at least, there may be a marketing advantage worth the cost.

Ed