London, 25 March 2008: US motor company Ford is expected to announce tomorrow the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors at an estimated cost of 2 billion dollars.

The agreement will include a pledge by Ford to contribute to the two brands' pension fund, and by Tata to continue buying engines from Ford - both sensitive points with trade unions.

"There will be an announcement tomorrow, assuming everything gets signed off," an unnamed person close to the deal was quoted as saying by Financial Times.

Ford is not commenting on the timing of the announcement, but recently said there were "no major roadblocks" preventing it.

Tata said its discussions with Ford were ongoing, but declined to comment.

In another potential boost to the two brands' future, Fiat's Chief Executive said he was interested in working with them if the sale to Tata goes through.

"I think I would be more than pleased to collaborate with Tata in terms of Jaguar/Range Rover, if in fact it ends up being owned by them," Mr.Sergio Marchionne told the Times.

Ratan Tata sits on Fiat's board, and Fiat and Tata produce cars, engines and transmissions together in India. Early in Ford's long-running auction of the two brands, Fiat turned down an invitation to bid for them.

Courtesy: PTI