Jaguar Plc, 1984

Between 1966 and 1968 Jaguar became part of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and subsequently the British Leyland conglomerate.

Sir William Lyons retired in 1972 - 50 years after forming the Company. Sir William died in 1985.

The success of Jaguar meant extra productions was undertaken at the former Spitfire and Lancaster bomber factory in Castle Bromwich, which was part of the British Leyland empire. The factory produced body shells before transferring them to Browns Lane for final assembly.

Due to problems with quality, John Egan was appointed the new Chairman in 1980, and Jaguar was hived off from British Leyland and in 1984, became a private company and sole owners of the Castle Bromwich plant. A Ј55 million research and development centre was opened at Whitley, Coventry in 1988, which is where all Jaguars are designed.

In 1990 the company was purchased by the Ford group and in 1999 the parent group formed the Premier Automotive Group which included Volvo, Aston Martin and later Land Rover.

By 2000, Jaguar took the gamble of taking on the mass market with the launch of the X-Type, built at Ford's Halewood plant. Despite critical acclaim, sales proved difficult in the key American sector hit by recession, and Jaguar was forced to end production at Browns Lane the following year.

Since then, The Big Cat has fought back with the unveiling of the Advanced Lightweight Coupe concept car at the Detroit Motor Show, to replace the current XK series.

Despite all the problems, Browns Lane remains the global headquarters of Jaguar and is still home to the trim, veneer and upholstery shops where more than 400 skilled workers ply their trade. Whitley provides jobs for more than 2,000 and Browns Lane employs about 550 people.