JAGUAR

Jaguar Cars Limited is a luxury car manufacturer , originally based at Browns Lane , Coventry , England but now at Whitley, Coventry . It was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, changing to SS Cars Ltd in 1934, and finally becoming Jaguar Cars Ltd in 1945.
While Jaguar is currently part of the Premier Automotive Group , Ford is divesting both Jaguar and Land Rover , with India 's Tata Motors the frontrunner to buy the brands.

Founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley , the SS Jaguar name first appeared on a 2.5 litre saloon in 1935. The Jaguar name was given to the entire company in 1945.

The distinctive Jaguar mascot
Jaguar made its name in the 1950s with a series of elegantly-styled sports cars and luxury saloons. The company bought the Daimler car company (not to be confused with Daimler-Benz ), in 1960 from Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). From the late 1960s, Daimler was used as a brand name for Jaguar's most luxurious saloons.
Jaguar merged with the British Motor Corporation (BMC), the Austin -Morris combine, to form British Motor Holdings (BMH) in 1966. After merging with Leyland and Rover , the resultant company then became British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) in 1968. Financial difficulties and the publication of the Ryder Report led to effective nationalisation in 1975 and the company became BL Ltd (BL).
In 1984, Jaguar was floated off as a separate company on the stock market — one of the Thatcher government's many privatisations . The Ford Motor Company made an offer to purchase the company in September 1989 which was accepted at an Extraordinary General Meeting in January 1990 and Jaguar was removed from the London Stock Exchange listings on 28 February 1990 . In 1999 it became part of Ford's new Premier Automotive Group along with Aston Martin , Volvo Cars and, from 2000, Land Rover ; Aston Martin was subsequently sold off in 2007. Since Ford purchased Jaguar in 1989 it has yet to earn a profit for the Dearborn -based auto manufacturer.
The company was originally located in Blackpool but moved to Coventry in 1928 when demand for the Austin Swallow became too great for the factory's capacity.[3] Today, Jaguars are assembled at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham and Halewood in Liverpool . The historic Browns Lane plant closed in 2005, leaving the XJ , XK and S-Type production at Castle Bromwich and the X-Type at Halewood, alongside the new Land Rover Freelander 2, from 2007.
Since Land Rover 's 2002 purchase by Ford, it has been closely associated with Jaguar. In many countries they share a common sales and distribution network (including shared dealerships), and some models now share common components, although the only shared production facility is Halewood, for the X-Type and the Freelander 2.
Jaguar Cars holds Royal Warrants from both HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles

On 11 June 2007 , Ford announced that it planned to sell Jaguar, along with Land Rover. Ford is retaining the services of Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise it on the deal. The sale was initially expected to be announced by September 2007, but was delayed till the beginning of 2008. Private equity forms such as Alchemy Partners of the UK , TPG Capital , Ripplewood Holdings (which hired former Ford Europe executive Sir Nick Scheele to head its bid), Cerberus Capital Management and One Equity Partners (owned by JP Morgan Chase and managed by former Ford executive Jacques Nasser ) of the US , besides Tata Motors of India and a consortium comprising Mahindra and Mahindra (an auto manufacturer from India) and Apollo Management had initially expressed interest in purchasing the marques from the Ford Motor Company.
Before the sale was announced, Anthony Bamford , chairman of British excavators manufacturer JCB had expressed interest in purchasing the company in August 2006 , only to back out later when told the sale would also involve Land Rover , which he did not intend to buy. Tata Motors have received endorsements from the Transport And General Worker's Union (TGWU)-Amicus combine as well as from Ford. On Christmas Eve of 2007, Mahindra and Mahindra backed out of the race for both brands, citing complexities in the deal.
On January 1 , 2008 , Ford made a formal announcement which declared Tata as the preferred bidder. According to the rules of the auction process, this announcement would not automatically disqualify any other potential suitor. However, Ford (as well as representatives of Unite ) would now be able to enter into more focused and detailed discussions with Tata to iron out issues ranging from labour concerns (job security and pensions), technology (IT systems and engine production) and intellectual property, as well as the final sale price. Ford would also open its books for a more comprehensive due diligence by Tata.

The company has had major success in sports car racing , particularly in the Le Mans 24 Hours . Victories came in 1951 and 1953 with the C-Type , then in 1955 , 1956 and 1957 with the D-Type . The manager of the racing team during this period, Lofty England , later went on to become CEO of Jaguar in the early 1970s. Although the prototype XJ13 was built in the mid-1960s it was never raced, and the famous race was then left for many years, until in the mid-1980s when Tom Walkinshaw 's TWR team started designing and preparing Jaguar V12-engined sports prototypes for European sports car races. The team started winning regularly from 1987, and with increased factory backing the team won Le Mans in 1988 and 1990.
In the late 1990s, Ford decided that Jaguar would be the corporation's Formula One entry. Ford bought out the semi-works Stewart Grand Prix team and rebranded it as Jaguar Racing . The Jaguar F1 program was not a success however, achieving only two podium finishes in five seasons of competition between 2000 and 2004 . At the end of 2004, with costs mounting and Ford's profits dwindling, the F1 team was sold to Red Bull energy drinks owner Dietrich Mateschitz , and it became Red Bull Racing . Since 2004 Jaguar has not had an official presence in motorsport.