Ford Motor Co struggling to stalk ...

Ford Motor Co struggling to stalk $1.44 billion in losses this year, might put up to sale its profitable Aston Martin sports-car unit.

Sale of all or part of Aston Martin is the most numerous logical possible divestiture because its dealers and cars are distinct from other Ford brands, Chief Executive Officer William Clay Ford Jr said Thursday. Aston Martins, known for their character in James Bond movies, are priced above $110000 and account for les than 1 percent of Ford's global sales.

The moderns pushed shares up 10 cent or 121 percent to $837

Shedding Aston Martin might be the first of several sales by means of the world's No. 2 automaker. Ford said Thursday that it hasn't decided the fate of Jaguar and Land rambler Those two U.K.-based brands are the focus of purchase talks with former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser, a partner at JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s undivided Equity Partners LLC, according to reports last week.

"Given the state of the company's North American operations, anything that improves management's focus is probably a positive," said John Novak, an analyst with Chicago-based Morningstar. "Nonetheless, the financial impact will likely be fairly small. A sale of Jaguar would be to a great degree more significant."

Ford bought a majority stake in Aston in 1987 and all of the company seven years later. The company "has received inquiries from interested parties" about Aston that readyed the announcement, spokesman Tom Hoyt said.

After posting its first-half toil loss, Ford, of Dearborn, Mich., hired former Goldman Sachs collection Inc. merger-and-acquisition specialist Kenneth Leet as a strategic adviser to review assets and brands.

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