Ford has sold the Land Rover and Jaguar marques to Indian company TATA for what seems like a paltry £1.15bn.
Jag and Land Rover represent 16,000 British jobs in Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands and on Merseyside.

While no immediate changes are planned by TATA to the British workforce, no direct assurances are given about the future safety of jobs (at least not publicly).

TATA famously introduced the ‘worlds cheapest production car’ recently. They will now preside over the manufacture of some of the world’s most expensive cars.

It now seems likely that Land Rover and Jaguar will be sold to private equity firms in the very near future.

The Solihull Land Rover plant which employs 5,900 people from around the West Midlands could be closed. Investors are expected to use the 308 acres of land to build “Executive Homes” [read: overpriced rabbit hutches] and net them around £450 million.

Land Rover production would move to Merseyside where the Freelander is already produced but the jobs at Solihull would probably be non-transferable for obvious reasons.

Ford, faced with £3.55bn in losses, has codenamed the British sale ‘Project Swift’, suggesting it wants a speedy conclusion.

Jaguar’s production would be concentrated at the Castle Bromwich factory but further job losses could be on the cards.

It has been announced today that the Ford Motor Company has instructed Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to sell off the Luxury brands of Jaguar and Land Rover.

Both Renault and Fiat have been speculated to be interested in buying the marques but have both denied any interest.

The private equity group Alchemy Partners has also denied a news report that they were lining up a £3bn ($5.91bn) offer for both.

Rumours of job losses and further plant closures in the West Midlands have been rumoured for both Land Rover and Jaguar in recent years.

The sale of Britain’s Rover marque in 2005 lead to the loss of around 6000 jobs in the West Midlands