Premier Automotive Group

The Premier Automotive Group (PAG), is a section of the Ford Motor Company that combines the business operations of its five European automobile manufacturers:

All except Volvo are British marques.

North American headquarters

PAG is based in London, and its North American Headquarters is in Irvine, California is the first Ford building, and the first building in Orange County, to qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. When the headquarters first opened, some of its floors were each specifically dedicated to one of PAG's brands.

Lincoln

Ford's luxury car division Lincoln was part of the Premier Auto Group as well in the late 1990s, but was pulled out in 2002 as part of Ford's marketing strategy to seperate its "import" marques from its domestic ones. During the creation of PAG, Lincoln's line-up received a complete overhaul, beginning with the 1998 redesign of the Lincoln Town Car. The same year also saw the introduction of the Lincoln Navigator SUV and in 2000 the Lincoln LS which shares its engine with the Ford Mondeo based Jaguar S-Type was introdcued. All three cars were designed in Irvine, California, and were according to many critics heavily influenced by Jaguar design themes^[1]. In both years 1998 and 2000 Lincoln was the best selling luxury car brand in the US. After Cadillac surged back into the market in 2002, however, Ford pulled Lincoln out of the PAG in what is according to Jerry Flint of Forbes Magazine a "impossible to make sense out of... strategy."

Other brands

In addition to the five brands considered part of the PAG, and the Ford brand, Ford also sells cars under the Lincoln and Mercury brands, and owns a controlling interest 33% stake in Mazda.

Management

PAG is currently headed by Lewis W.K. Booth.

External links

Ford brands

References