Paper Says Ford rejects Renault Bid for Jaguar

LONDON January 22, 2006; Reuters reported that U.S. number two automaker Ford Motor Co. has rejected an approach from France's Renault to buy ailing luxury-car maker Jaguar, the Sunday Times newspaper said.

The paper, citing senior auto industry sources, said Renault had expressed its interest in acquiring Jaguar to Ford last year, but Ford's chiefs, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford Jr., were understood to have rejected the French firm's overtures.

Neither company was immediately available for comment.