Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally commented yesterday that the Jaguar brand is not for sale and that the progress the British carmaker is making in terms of quality and productivity is right on track with the firm’s improvement plan. Reuters is also reporting that Jaguar's sales were down nearly 32 percent for 2006 in the US, which is the company's largest market.

Previously, Mulally was unwilling to rule out the possibility of the sale of Jaguar and other premium brands in its portfolio. For now, only Aston Martin has been confirmed for sale but industry analysts still hope to see Ford drop Jaguar.

With the recently launched XK coupe and the stunning C-XF concept (pictured above with designer Ian Callum) paving the way for the S-type replacement, the next couple of years will be very interesting for the ailing British marque.