[1] The Premier Automotive Group was formed in 1999 under then-CEO Jacques Nasser and grew to include the Lincoln, Mercury, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo brands.
Lincoln's headquarters had been merged into PAG's North American office, where it was run by a German executive based in London, England.
[2] The four other marques in the PAG, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, were essentially completely different car companies with their own unique markets and dealer networks, so there were few synergies that could be achieved by combining them under one division.
Ford attempted to push these brands to share parts and engineering in order to cut costs.
While Volvo had been one of the more successful entry-level luxury brands in the United States when it was independent, as part of PAG, it lost market share to the German luxury marques like BMW and Mercedes-Benz who had expanded their entry-level offerings extensively.
[2] When Alan Mulally became president and CEO in September 2006, he oversaw Ford's dismantling of the Premier Automotive Group.
[5] In March 2008, Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Indian carmaker Tata Motors.
[8] In late 2008, a deal was announced to lease the former PAG headquarters building in Irvine to the Taco Bell restaurant chain.
After Cadillac surged in the market in 2002, however, Ford pulled Lincoln out of the PAG in what is according to Jerry Flint of Forbes magazine a strategy beyond comprehension.
Volvo engineers incorporated numerous Volvo safety innovations in to these vehicles[12] including a bolt-in hydroformed cross-car steel beam between the B-pillars directly below an identical reinforced roof crossbeam above the B-pillars, to channel impact forces around the passenger compartment.
Front frame rails were redesigned to better absorb impact forces,[citation needed] and Volvo also co-engineered collapsible steering columns and roof-mounted airbags.