Ford said Tuesday that it was working with financial advisers to sort out the future of the two British brands, which have been rumored to be up for sale for more than a year.
The comments were the strongest yet from Ford, which previously had denied any plans to sell Jaguar and Land Rover. They come as Ford is trying to reverse a $12.6 billion loss in 2006 and raise money for its restructuring effort.
“As we’ve consistently been saying since last year, Ford Motor Company has been assessing a number of strategic options for all of our operations, as any responsible company would do,” a Ford spokesman, Tom Hoyt, said Tuesday. “Ford is actively investigating its options in terms of other possible actions, and we’re not ruling anything in or out.”
He went on, “We are working with our financial advisers to determine the best future for Jag and Land Rover.”
The statement comes about three months after Ford sold Aston Martin, maker of the sports cars driven by the movie spy James Bond, for $848 million to a group of investors led by the racing mogul David Richards. At that time, Ford said it was not looking to sell the other divisions of its Premier Automotive Group, which include Jaguar, Land Rover and the Swedish carmaker Volvo.
Although Mr. Hoyt did not say directly that Jaguar and Land Rover were being put up for sale, his comments brought to mind remarks by DaimlerChrysler’s chief executive, Dieter Zetsche, as he sought bidders this year for the Chrysler Group.
In February, Mr. Zetsche said that Daimler was considering “all options” for Chrysler, which it sold last month to Cerberus Capital Management.
Mr. Hoyt did not discuss Volvo, but some analysts and industry executives say it, too, could be sold as Ford’s chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, focuses on fixing Ford’s core operations in North America.
Jon Rogers, an analyst with Citigroup, estimated that Ford could get $7 billion for Volvo and $8 billion collectively for Jaguar and Land Rover. Because Jaguar and Land Rover share parts and production facilities, selling them individually could be difficult, Mr. Rogers said.
Ford bought Jaguar in 1989, Volvo’s car operations in 1999 and Land Rover in 2000. It once hoped the luxury division could earn upward of $1 billion a year.
Instead, the Premier group has lost $1.15 billion over the last three years. Ford has said it expects the brands to be profitable this year; they earned $402 million in the first quarter. But analysts said losses most likely had continued at Jaguar. The division has been a constant source of problems for Ford, which purchased it for $2.5 billion.
One potential buyer, Jon Moulton, a managing partner of the private equity firm Alchemy Partners in London, said he was interested in Jaguar and Land Rover “on an emotional level.” But he said he thought that they would command a higher price than he would wish to bid.
In a telephone interview, Mr. Moulton said that he expected an equity firm or a buyer in the Middle East or Russia rather than another car maker to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover. The least likely option, Mr. Moulton said, would be for Ford to retain ownership.
“I think a sale will have to go through,” he said. “Ford’s ability to continue feeding them cash is increasingly restricted. They are two very interesting brand names. Neither of them has really made much money for their owners over the last 20 years, but the allure of them is very obvious.”
