@ Xaotik Yeah, that was the first thing that came to my mind too, which i guess is why i've got an uneasy feeing about it.
To be honest i'm not all that worried about Land Rover, it's in a healthy state, has a loyal following, and has the best brand name out there in it's segment of the market.
But I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Jaguar. My uncle had a couple of Jags, and my father would always 'borrow' his XJ12 whenever we visited, and his XJS was the first car i ever drove
. Problem is, thanks to those bloody Germ-ans and their chuffin precision engineering, they've stolen the core customer base from Jaguar. It's no secret than Ford have been propping up Jag for years. Look inside any of their cars from the last few years and you'll see nothing but the Ford's Group parts bin. Plus they really have been stuck in the past in relation to their car design, like that horrid S-Type in its woeful attempt to harken back to the Mk3, and the X-Type's attempt to be a mini XJ for the masses, but was nothing more than a Mondeo under its skin. Perhaps the new XF is a step in the right direction, and perhaps it will save the company, but for me it looks too much like a Lexus, although the interior does look funky (thats going by pictures, not seen one in the flesh yet)
Thing i'm most bothered about is, Jag can no longer rely on that Ford parts bin to save costs, so what are we gonna get now ? A Sat-Nav from a TATA Nano in the next gen XK, switch gear from a TATA......'whateverothercartheymakethingy' in a new XJ ?
Whats going to happen to the quality ? Whats going to happen to the workforce after the money given by Ford runs out in a years time ?
And i guess the biggest bug-bare. Why the hell couldn't some British company step up to the plate and take it on. It's not as though we're a poor nation, it's not as though we don't have any companies that can't afford to keep it British.
Any other Brit out there wanna chuck in a few quid so we can bring back Kitty to her rightful home ?