Ford to Sell Jaguar and Land Rover

The iconic emblem of Jaguar seen at a motor show. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

Jaguar and Land Rover marques have been sold to Indian conglomerate Tata (pictured, chairman Ratan Tata). (Read the article) Photograph: Manjunath Kiran/EPA

Jaguar X-Types on the production line at Halewood, Merseyside. Photograph: Don Mcphee/Guardian

US actor Steve McQueen gets into his beloved Jaguar XKSS in 1963 Photograph: John Dominis/Getty

The Jaguar XJ13 - "the car that money can't buy" - was built for the Le Mans race in 1966 - the year that saw the less glamorous Land Rover produce its 500,000th vehicle Photograph: Adam Fradgley/PA

John Thaw, the British actor who played the lead role in the television series , Inspector Morse and Kevin Whateley who played his side-kick Lewis pose in front of Morse's legendary Jaguar 2.4 MKII. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott scowls at photographers as he gets out of a Jaguar. Prescott was dubbed 'Two Jags' by the press because of his fondness for the luxury cars Photograph: Martin Argles/Guardian

In 2004 Jaguar announced it was halting production at its Browns Lane plant in Coventry as part of a programme which saw more than 1,100 jobs go Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh wave from a Land Rover at a youth Rally in Lagos Nigeria , 1956 Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty

Kam the the elephant from Bertram Mills Circus 'drives' a Land Rover in a publicity stunt in 1959. Photograph: Ron Kase/Getty

A British Army Land Rover beneath a camouflage net in the Kuwaiti desert, 1991. Photograph: Robin Adshead /Corbis

British Army soldiers speed their Land Rover through Basra, Iraq. Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian

A mountain rescue team member uses a flare to signal the site of a casualty in the Lake District , UK. Photograph: Ashley Cooper/Corbis

In 1970 it decided to put the glamour on a more commercial footing, introducing the upmarket Range Rover, a vehicle capable of both travelling offroad and hitting a top speed of almost 100mph on it. Photograph: PA

A newspaper advert promoting the 'offroad' benefits of the Land Rover Photograph: Newscast

A Greenpeace protester places a message on a Land Rover at the entrance to the Land Rover factory in Solihull. The site was invaded in 2005 by activistsin a protest over the production of Range Rovers, which they described as "climate wrecking". Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA