Jaguar and Land Rover, two of Britain’s most highly regarded car brands, will be sold today in a £1 billion deal to Tata, the Indian conglomerate famous for manufacturing the world’s cheapest car.

The sale of the two iconic names marks the end of carmaking in Britain by Ford. It follows the US company’s decision to sell its other big British brand, Aston Martin, last year. Production of its own blue-badged brand cars in Dagenham ended eight years ago.

Jaguar and Land Rover will sit alongside Tata’s other automotive assets — including the £1,200 Nano vehicle — Corus, the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker, and Tetley’s Tea.

Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin were part of Ford’s premier automotive group, a division that it had hoped would deliver substantial profits. However, Jaguar struggled after Ford failed to make it a volume producer. Now Ford retains only Volvo from the original stable of prestige brands.

Visionary keen to steer Jaguar's future

Ratan Tata may soon own the marque and its factories when Ford offloads the luxury carmaker as part of the Land Rover package

• Tata to drive off with Jaguar and Land Rover

• Tata pulls ahead in race for Land Rover and Jaguar

BACKGROUND

• Tata deal drives Land Rover's future

• Plea for Ford to hold on to equity stake

• Tata working on ultra-green 'air car'

• Tata wants Ford man for Jaguar-Land Rover

• Times breaks the bad news to Tata bosses

Understated leader's bite is stronger than his bark

The news that Tata Steel is considering a takeover of Corus will come as no surprise to anyone who's met the man at the helm of India's family firm

BACKGROUND

• Throwing open a huge window on the world

• Keeping things in family may hinder progress

• From womb to tomb, from home to hospital, workers savour taste of life in a company town

• Tata instigates new age of empire

Related Links

• Jaguar XF SV8

• The world's cheapest new car

• Corners cut on cost and safety

But both brands are now perceived as being on the rise after the launch of successful new models. Jaguar’s new XF, the replacement for the retro-styled S-type, has been hailed as having all the style and power qualities of a true Jaguar.

By contrast the X-type Jaguar, the cheapest model, was criticised for resembling a Ford Mondeo after the US car group based the car on a Mondeo platform. The X-type had been Jaguar’s big hope to move into volume sales.

Jaguars and Land Rovers will continue to be manufactured in Britain for the immediate future, safeguarding 13,500 jobs. The new owner will stick to business plans drafted by Ford.

Ford put Land Rover and Jaguar on sale last year when it was reeling from a $12.7 billion global loss for 2006. The company decided to jettison its prime British marques to try to sort out its difficulties in its home market.

Tata has been in exclusive talks with Ford since the beginning of the year after winning a bidding race that originally attracted strong interest from private equity groups working in conjunction with senior former Ford executives.

Winning the brands will open a radically new chapter in the company’s history. While Tata’s trucks dominate Indian highways and the company has made cars since 1991, acquiring the marques will represent a foray into luxury territory.

Ratan Tata, the chairman, has acknowledged that the image disparity Tata will face in owning two such prestigious brands while producing what it claims will be the world’s cheapest car: the “one lakh” Nano (one lakh is 100,000 rupees, or £1,200), which was unveiled earlier this year. But at the recent Geneva Motor Show he said: “There is no need to tinker with the brands. Our challenge is to make them thrive and grow.”

Tata’s acquisition is its second big move into the British market in just over a year. In January last year the company, whose interests run from tea plantations to IT, bought the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus for £6.7 billion. Its buying spree has also included Tetley, the tea maker, Daewoo’s commercial vehicle arm and the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.

Last month Ford smoothed the way for the completion of the sale by offering a £300 million injection into the pension fund. An announcement of a sale had been expected at the start of March but was delayed while the two sides finalised their future working relationship.