The symbolism could hardly be greater: Tata, India’s second largest carmaker, unveiled the world’s cheapest car yesterday, a £1,200 runabout called the Nano that threatens to overwhelm the streets of nations throughout the Far East as four-wheeled transport comes within the reach of millions for the first time.

Yet Tata’s eyes are on a far more prestigious prize. Within weeks the ambitious Bombay-based business could own Jaguar and Land Rover, companies that produce cars far beyond the reach of all but the exclusive few. Tata makes a £1,200 car; Jaguar and Land Rover make cars that can cost £70,000 and more.

The disposal of Jaguar and Land Rover by Ford is just another sign that the sun has not only set on the British Empire but the lights have gone out as well. Ford may have been an American multinational company, but its long history and substantial presence here always made it feel as though the two charismatic brands had stayed within our grasp. But Ford’s hopeless inability to manage Jaguar, in particular, has served to underline that the world is looking to the East for its salvation.

Tata could be a prime player in the British luxury car market, if it gets hold of Jaguar and Land Rover. At least under Ford the two Midlands-based companies could be promised an interchange of high-technology, design ideas and talent with their parent business. But what will Tata bring except for size? Precious little, probably, unless it has the money to throw at the pair in the same quantities that have kept BMW and Mercedes-Benz at the top of the executive market for so long.

Land Rover remains the preeminent manufacturer of 4 x 4 machines, although that is not much recommendation in the present hostile environment where global warming threatens to melt down sales of big four-wheel-drive vehicles. Which means Tata will have to come up with some interesting strategies to adapt the business.

Jaguar, though, is a basket case. Sales shot from 50,000 to 130,000 in 2002, with the launch of the “baby” X-Type but sank ingloriously to 63,000 last year. The X-Type – the brain-child of Jacques Nasser, once the global chairman of Ford and, ironically, one of the bidders in the takeover battle – was not good enough to compete with BMW’s 3 Series, the Audi A4 or the Mercedes C-Class.

The Jaguar S-Type was also a lukewarm, retro affair that did not catch on. The company has launched the XF to yet more tepid reviews and the suspicion remains that only a thorough shake-up can rescue a brand that was once one of the most revered in the world.

If Tata is buying the badges in a postimperialist bout of muscle-flex-ing, they could be making a huge mistake. Meanwhile, the factory workers in Solihull and Birmingham must be wondering what brilliant ideas will come from a manufacturer whose only headline-grabbing vehicle is a car that comes at the price of about four iPhones. They will need to be good or the sun will be setting for ever on two famous British motoring names.