Ford, which has been cutting costs in a bid to offset declining sales, is believed to be planning to sell its British luxury brands, Jaguar and Land Rover. It is being speculated that the US automaker, once the world's second largest after General Motors, is expected to make an official announcement in the next few days.

Ford acquired Jaguar in 1989 and Land Rover in 2000 and ran both as divisions under the banner of Premier Automotive Group (PAG), as also sports car brand Aston Martin, made famous by James Bond, which it sold in March this year for $925 million to a UK-led business group. (See: Ford to sell Aston Martin stake for $848 million: report )

Ford expects strong interest from private equity firms for the two marques. Private equity firm Alchemy Partners has been said to be lining up a £3 billion offer for the two luxury brands.

Earlier the UK-based Financial Times reported that the company had chosen Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise it on the sale of the brands.

In May, this year, a Swedish newspaper reported that Ford was in talks with Germany's BMW to divest the Volvo brand (See: Ford may sell Volvo car unit to Germany's BMW)

The news comes as Ford undergoes a significant restructuring scheme in a bid to counter losses - it posted a loss of $282 million for the first three months of 2007. In the same period last year, it had posted less than a $1.4 billion loss.

With rising oil prices, the gas-guzzling models by US automakers have faced stiff competition from makers of smaller fuel-efficient cars by Asian automobile firms, particularly Japanese firms.

Analysts have wondered for some time what Ford might do with Land Rover and Jaguar, neither of which has performed well.