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| Ford Motor Co. is reportedly set to kill off the 2.5 X-Type Jaguar, the least expensive vehicle in that line. |
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| The Ford Five Hundred is reportedly facing a redesign less than a year after it hit showrooms. |
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Ford Motor Co. plans to terminate the cheapest models of its Jaguar sports car and is in the process of giving its newly released Five Hundred sedan a facelift, according to published reports.
The moves are the latest attempts by the nation's No. 2 auto manufacturer to reverse its financial problems. Two weeks ago the company reiterated its earlier guidance that first-quarter earnings would come in well below year-earlier results, although it would make a profit. That guidance update put it below current analysts' forecasts, which were lowered following the announcement.
USA Today reported Tuesday that Ford will drop the $31,000 2.5 X-Types at its luxury-performance brand Jaguar, and it is also reducing incentives on 3.0 X-Types.
The newspaper said the moves leave more money to promote higher-price cars at Jaguar. It plans a new $115,000, high-power XJ sedan as it attempts to again raise its image.
Mike O'Driscoll, head of Jaguar's U.S. operations, told the newspaper he wouldn't call the moves a phaseout of the X-type, but says that Jaguar is "looking at our options."
The newspaper said Jaguar is expected to report a loss this year after a $700 million shortfall in 2004. It announced plans last year to close in June a British factory that makes the cars, laying off 1,150 workers.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Ford is already looking at design changes for the Five Hundred sedan, which first hit showrooms in October. The newspaper said changes would be meant to spice up its styling and interior, which the newspaper said have been criticized as too bland.
Auto manufacturers normally wait four or five years to redesign an automobile after its introduction. The Journal reports the newly designed Five Hundred would arrive in dealer showrooms in the middle of 2007, less than three years after the debut.
But the newspaper said Ford is making the more immediate moves as it faces disappointing sales. The newspaper said its average monthly volume during the last four months would give the company an annual sales pace of about 83,000 vehicles for the Five Hundred, or about 17 percent below its 100,000 sales target.
The newspaper quoted one executive, whose name was not given, as saying the redesign is in response to "critical comments from the media and consumers that the Five Hundred is staid and too conservative."
For more on automotive news, click here.
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