Ford Motor Co. will announce today that it has agreed to buy the prestigious Land Rover sport-utility unit from Germany's BMW Group for $2.8 billion and plans to relocate the division's North American headquarters to Orange County.
The deal is a further nod to Southern California's fast-emerging reputation as a hub for luxury automobile makers and gives Ford another coveted nameplate to add to its portfolio of world-recognized luxury brands, consisting of Lincoln, Jaguar, Volvo and Aston Martin.
"It is our intention to leverage Land Rover to the fullest potential," Ford Chief Executive Jac Nasser said.
Ford officials said they plan to consolidate Land Rover with its other luxury lines in Irvine, where it moved its Lincoln-Mercury headquarters in 1998 to take advantage of California's car culture and design expertise.
Land Rover would become the 18th auto company to base its world or North American headquarters in Southern California, which industry analysts have dubbed Motown West.
Ford, based in Dearborn, Mich., also plans to expand the product line of the Land Rover, which is known in the U.S. for its boxy, jeep-like Discoverys and its pricey, amenity-filled Range Rovers.
The company would not say how many jobs might move to Irvine after the sale closes. Land Rover's current North American headquarters in Lanham, Md., employs about 60 and has relocated about 40 others in the last year to BMW's U.S. base in New Jersey.
Last month, Ford said it would move 225 jobs to Orange County as part of the relocation of its North American luxury lines, called the Premier Automotive Group, from New Jersey.
Analysts said the Land Rover purchase would provide momentum to Ford's recent push into sport utility vehicles and should broaden the company's European presence.
"It's a real coup for Ford," said Jim Hossack of AutoPacific Inc., a Tustin consulting firm. "It will give them a muscle and cachet in the sport-utility market that they might not otherwise have had."
Land Rover sold 177,000 vehicles last year, including 30,000 in the U.S. The company employs 12,000 worldwide, primarily at its manufacturing plant in Solihull, England.
Ford expects to close the deal in the third quarter.
The decision by BMW to sell Land Rover, considered the crown jewel of the otherwise troubled Rover Group, reflects the German manufacturer's desire to cut its losses after a disastrous 1994 purchase of the British car company.
