So, what does the deal mean?

The announcement of the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors, of India, is tremendous news for the workforces of both marques, in the Midlands and in Liverpool. The deal is expected to secure the jobs - and more importantly, the ailing pension funds - of both companies. It is good news, too, for the British car industry.

Hang on a minute though - there isn't much of a British car industry left, is there?

Well no, if you are talking outright ownership, then there is not much in the way of volume left in this country, but the brands manufactured here under foreign ownership are doing very well indeed, thanks very much. Mini (owned by BMW) sell everything that rolls off the ever-expanding Cowley production line, while Bentley (owned by the VW group) is revelling in a new lease of life for its rapidly expanding model range coming out of Crewe. Add into the mix all the Nissans, Hondas and Toyotas that are produced here and we are looking at a total of 1.5 million cars made here last year - almost twice as many as 25 years ago.

But it's Jaguar - synonymous with Simon Templar (for those of a certain age). Isn't it sad it is now owned by an Indian company?

Why? They've been owned by Ford - an American company - since 1989. Ford bought Land Rover in 2000 and are selling the pair together in order to sweeten the deal - Land Rover is a nicely profitable business. While the five-year business plan for the two companies has been backed by Tata, though, what happens after that is anyone's guess. We may well bid goodbye to the X-Type, but then there's some people that believe that might be no bad thing.

Isn't that the crux of the matter? What happens to these companies then?

Look, Ratan Tata is a very smart man. His plans for the recently unveiled Nano (bringing cheap but probably not particularly cheerful motoring to millions on the subcontinent) have to be applauded and he has not paid £1bn for Jaguar and Land Rover simply to close them down or relocate production to Mumbai. Having a spread of marques - the entry-level Nano, the luxury Jaguar, the utilitarian Land Rover, plus the Tatas that service solely the domestic market in India - is good business. They are having to borrow money to fund the deal and have confirmed their commitment to the marques and the UK.

So it's not all doom and gloom then?

To be honest, after the closure of Peugeot's Ryton plant last year, it's actually a bit of good news for British car workers. Ratan Tata is a bit of a car fanatic and, as he also owns Tetley Tea and Corus, formerly British Steel, he might do rather well if he concentrates on keeping Land Rover and Jaguar as smaller, niche marques, rather than trying to turn them into million sellers as Ford tried to.