Ford's Four Core Premier Automotive Group Brands: Where Are They Now?

The recent surge from Volvo’s U.S. automobile operations is fueled largely by the second incarnation of the brand’s flagship — the XC90. Sales of the XC90 nearly trickled to a halt at the end of 2014 and early 2015, as the first-generation SUV turned 12 years old.

But the XC90 has quickly regained its position as Volvo’s best seller. More importantly, November’s U.S. sales figures suggest that the XC90 does in fact have the ability to pull other Volvos ahead as well. Though sales of the S60, S80, and V60 are down 16 percent through the first 11 months of 2015, the trio jumped 38 percent in November, as XC90 volume shot beyond 2,000 units for a second consecutive month and as XC60 sales increased for an 11th consecutive month. Year-over-year, Volvo volume in the United States increased 91 percent in November 2015, the best year-over-year gain of any auto brand in America.

With 6,902 November sales, however, Volvo still trailed its former Ford Premier Automotive Group partner, Lincoln, by more than 1,000 sales in what was a disappointing month for Lincoln.

Remember the Premier Automotive Group?

Jacques Nasser’s brainchild didn’t hold Lincoln within its grasp for long and Aston Martin wasn’t a major player in the Blue Oval sub-group. Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover were eventually sold off for approximately $4.1 billion. Ford originally paid $11.8 billion for the brands.

But with Ford losing money on Volvo and disappointed that the funds invested to create a Jaguar revival were wasted, and with Ford in need of some cold cash, the Premier Automotive Group was dismantled by Ford between 2007 and 2010. Ford’s lone upmarket contender (besides $65,000 F-150 Limiteds), became Lincoln, a brand which suffered a 38-percent sales decline between 2003 and today.

Let’s reimagine the circumstances for a moment, then. Set aside the understanding that Ford’s Dearborn HQ would have made different decisions for Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo. Forget the fact that Ford needed money during those lean years last decade. Ignore the knowledge of Chinese and Indian ownership. What would the Ford Premier Automotive Group’s presence be in the United States now if such a group still existed? And in which direction have the quartet’s four core members travelled?

PAG

Ford Motor Company’s namesake Ford brand, however, has seen sales rise 19 percent over the course of that period, but joint Ford-Mercury sales – Mercury is dead now but was alive then – are up by a more reasonable 10 percent, slightly better than the 7 percent growth achieved by the industry since then. Year-over-year, sales of Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, and Volvo are collectively up 13 percent in a market that’s up just 5 percent.

Jaguar

It wasn’t just the loss of models. The flagship XJ lost more than half its U.S. sales between 2004 and 2007 — and it hasn’t recovered. Jaguar is now frequently outsold by tiny Maserati, which sold fewer than 1,000 cars in September and October, and now accounts for less than one-fifth of JLR’s total U.S. volume. Sales in 2015 are projected to fall to a three-year low before, we anticipate, surging in 2016.

Land Rover

Sales in 2015 should be 37 percent higher than they were in 2007, when Lincoln sold 2.8 vehicles for every Land Rover. Now Lincoln sells 1.5 vehicles for every Land Rover, and in November sold just 1.2 new vehicles for every Land Rover.

Lincoln

As for the new MKX, it doesn’t sell nearly as often as the old Cadillac SRX. And the MKC, the vehicle which should make hay as the market snaps up small luxury crossovers at a furious pace, suffered a 15 drop in sales in October and November as its segment jumped 45 percent, little more than one year into the fresh-faced MKC’s tenure. 2015 will be Lincoln’s best year since 2008, but growth is modest, and Lincoln is far off the pace achieved at the turn of the century.

Volvo

Volvo sold nearly 3,300 XC90s per month in 2004. But Volvo’s other vehicles aren’t as popular now as they were then, either, and the brand now lacks true entry-level players in the U.S. market. Volvo sold nearly 27,000 S40s and V50s in 2004. Like Lincoln, Volvo is producing meaningful gains in the U.S., particularly in the second-half of 2015. Depending on the strength of December’s typically forceful luxury market, Volvo could produce a seven-year high in U.S. sales in 2015. Reaching back to the heights of a decade ago, however, will require more than just one long December.

For each of these four former Ford PAG divisions, there is reason to believe that maybe next year will be better than the last.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.