Ford Motor Company's sale of prestige brands Jaguar and Rover is proceeding to plan, with new owner Indian conglomerate Tata set to take control on June 1. That's the official word from Jaguar Land Rover Australia boss, David Blackhall.

Speaking at this week's snowy launch of the Jaguar XF saloon, Blackhall said the deal was "on track" to close on schedule and confirmed it is business as usual for the local operation.

"The communication process has been quite good. Transparent, if I could describe it that way," Blackhall told the Carsales Network.

"The financial close will be June 1. We've been working for several months on the detail. I was in the UK two weeks ago for a global get together to go over a few issues and everything is on track," he explained.

"The Ford Motor Company is running the transaction, so we're [Jaguar Land Rover] not really driving it, but we've provided everything we've been asked to provide, so [the] June 1 financial close, we see as going forward."

According to Blackhall, however, it's business as usual for the local operation.

"In terms [of] how we operate our business here in Australia, I'd be bitterly disappointed if we worked our way to the top of the 'To Do' list," Blackhall joked.

"I think our market's running well and I believe the new owners, as they settle into the ownership pattern, will focus on the big issues."

"Our plan is that it [ownership change] doesn't really affect us too much at all. We'll continue to have the same structures; we'll work through the same people in the United Kingdom. We don't see the change in ownership being an immediate issue for us [in Australia]," Blackhall opined.

The local Jaguar Land Rover boss said he had no knowledge of any substantive changes to the companies' future product portfolios or timelines.

"From our point of view we don't have insight into that... [But the] Thinking at the top of the company is that Tata has purchased a business plan, a product plan and a management team. And I believe during the due diligence process that they [Tata] satisfied themselves that all three of those elements are in tip top shape."

Locally Jaguar, at least, is looking to improve its fortunes; with the new XF (more here) a key component in the forgotten luxury brand's planned resurgence.

While around 60 per cent of Jaguar Australia's 2008 allotment of 350 XFs is already spoken for, Jaguar Australia General Manager, Dorian Lapthorne, cautions it's not volume that will drive the success of the brand Down Under going forward.

"Don't look for huge volume growth out of Jaguar," Lapthorne cautions. "There might be some, but volume is not what really counts -- it's the profit that underpins that volume."

Lapthorne says "The New Jaguar's" focus is building (and selling) "beautiful fast cars".

"There is no 2.5-litre XF; there is no sub-$100,000 XF; because that doesn't fit the profile of building beautiful fast cars," he says.

"Does that mean we don't compete head on with the Germans? Yes, it does. We don't have an $80,000 car to compete with the [entry-level] 5 Series or the A6."

Lapthorne says the XF's volume will be lower than the German competitors. He contends that with the arrival of XF, Jaguar's business model is changing.

"We are a [now] premium niche business."

Explains Lapthorne: "There's a difference between being a small business and [being a] a premium niche business -- a premium niche business is one that makes its money, to put it crudely, from making a lot of money on each individual car that it sells.

"The other way of making money in business is to sell a lot of stuff and make a little bit of money on everything -- like Toyota.

"We're deliberately focused on making money out of selling fewer cars. [It is a] Difficult message to get across, because we're [the automotive industry] all caught up with the concept that more is better," Lapthorne opined.

"In 2006 we [Jaguar Australia] sold just over 1000 cars. In 2007 we sold 850 cars -- down 20 per cent. Some journalists wrote stories that in a market that was booming, poor Jaguar was declining -- that's what the top line numbers suggest. [But] Our profit in Australia in 2007, when we sold 20 per cent less cars, was actually 15 per cent greater than in 2006.

"Why? Because we sold the right cars...We sold the right mix. We set our business up with the right cost base. That's how you make money as a premium niche business -- you get the settings right and get the product right.

"And we're already seeing for this year, where we will sell slightly more cars than last year, that the profitability with XF is delivering a better business case -- and that's true on a global basis," Lapthorne explained.

According to the Jaguar GM, the key statistics of local XF presales are the level of conquest sales and the age of the buyers.

"A group of customers fell in love with us in the 1960s and 70s and they are very loyal customers... However, new customers didn't fall in love with us...

"New customers saw our brand as aging and with our current customer base we have an average age of about 57 -- about 10-15 years older than the likes of BMW, Audi or Lexus, or just about anybody else. That wouldn't be a problem in itself, if every time somebody turned 57 they thought: I'm old enough now to buy a Jaguar. That's not happening -- our average age is actually creeping year by year by year.

"We were not attracting new customers. So a lot of what we're doing [now] is to attract new customers... Customers who haven't been willing to give Jaguar a chance," he explained.

Lapthorne, however, contends the XF is already turning the tide.

"First deliveries [of XF] will start on June 1, but already we've sold 60 per cent of our 2008 allocation. Because we've sold that, we're able to look into the customers that are buying the car and we're able to see where they are coming from and how old they are.

"We're able to say a couple of really interesting things: first is 77 per cent of XF customers and prospects don't currently own a Jaguar... And that number's been going up... That's good news for us.

"And the median age we're seeing is not 57, it's 44 -- more than 10 years younger than the overall brand. And even better, when you drill into the 77 [per cent] that don't currently own a Jaguar, it's under 40 [years old] at the moment."

And with in excess of 20,000 pre-sales worldwide, it seems it's not only younger Aussies that are re-engaging the Brit brand. Under Tata, it seems both here and abroad business as usual will have an entirely new ring to it.

Look out for the Carsales Network's launch review of the Jaguar XF range soon.

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