During initial road tests which have taken place in the last few weeks, the new Jaguar XF saloon has been garnering impressive reviews. “We have a stunning design for the 169, and we know how to build a great rear-drive platform for it,” Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne told ANE.

According to British newspaper reports over the weekend, Tata Motors is set to be named as preferential bidder for Ford's up-for-sale Jaguar and Land Rover brands, a transaction that could open up several possibilities for Fiat, and in particular its Alfa Romeo division.

“Tata, the Indian company trying to bring the world’s cheapest car to the South Asian country, is expected to be named as the preferred bidder for Ford’s Land Rover and Jaguar brands in the next few days,” reported The Sunday Times yesterday. A source added that although nothing could be confirmed, an announcement is expected in the next few days.

Tata is one of three bidders on a final shortlist which includes rival Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra, and the U.S. buyout group One Equity Partners, which is headed by former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser. Tata Motors, which is part of the Tata Group, India’s largest conglomerate, has its bid supported by the unions at Jaguar and Land Rover’s three UK plants, who said the offer was in “the best interests of union members at Jaguar-Land Rover”.

Tata Motors has a deepening joint venture with Fiat, not only in India where the two are now manufacturing and selling cars together, but shortly to extend to Latin America where Fiat will build a new pick-up on behalf of the Indian firm at its plant at Córdoba, Argentina. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne surprised the car industry earlier this year when he revealed that he had enquired about the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover, although Fiat eventually declined to put together a bid.

Last week in an interview with Luca Cifferi in Automotive News Europe, Marchionne was asked why he had considered the purchase, and why he had walked away. “We were attracted by a number of things,” he told ANE, “the most noticeable being Land Rover’s US distribution network and Jaguar’s platforms and powertrains, which we would have used to make top Alfa Romeo models with front longitudinal engines and rear-wheel drive.”

Marchionne reiterated financial reasons as being behind the decision not to bid, specifically at the time he was concerned that it would adversely affect Fiat’s improving credit status. “At the same time, we felt we would not be able to manage the Jaguar and Land Rover brands while also leading the proper execution of the Fiat Group Automobiles relaunch plan,” he told ANE last week. “We remain open to talks with the future owner of Jaguar and Land Rover about possible cooperation,” he added.

With talks with Daimler, that were reported to be including discussions over Alfa Romeo using the next generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class architecture, seemingly stalling, any Tata ownership of Jaguar in particular could open up a third platform alternative for Alfa Romeo to consider alongside the Mercedes-Benz option or a RWD version of its own ‘Premium’ architecture, to underpin the forthcoming Alfa 169. During initial road tests which have taken place in the last few weeks, the new Jaguar XF saloon has been garnering impressive reviews.

Any decision is expected next month, allowing talks with Daimler to run their course and to allow for Tata’s capture of Jaguar. “We have a stunning design for the 169, and we know how to build a great rear-drive platform for it,” Marchionne told ANE. “The problem is that we want to see whether we can buy such a platform from one of our competitors in order to be more cost competitive. We have talks underway with different manufacturers. I expect a final decision by January.”