March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. will sell its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in the U.K. to India's Tata Motors Ltd. for at least $2 billion, people familiar with the transaction said.

The deal would transfer two of the world's best-known luxury brands to India's largest truckmaker. Ford, refocusing its attention on its unprofitable North American business, said in January that Tata was the preferred buyer.

The sale is scheduled to be announced tomorrow, one of the people said. ``We've made significant progress,'' Ford spokesman Mark Truby said in an interview. ``There are no major roadblocks.'' He declined to give details.

Ford, the world's third-largest automaker, is abandoning a 21-year effort to boost earnings with the U.K. luxury brands and turning to North America, the main cause of $15.3 billion in losses the past two years.

``The problems at home are pretty severe,'' said Mirko Mikelic, portfolio manager at Fifth Third Asset Management in Grand Rapids, Michigan, including Ford bonds. ``They're just happy to get rid of Jaguar.''

Tata has obtained $3 billion of loans to use toward the purchase, and Ford will contribute $600 million to pensions for Jaguar and Land Rover workers, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the agreement is private.

``We're in discussions,'' said Debasis Ray, a Mumbai-based spokesman for Tata Motors.

Ford rose 4 cents to $6 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Tata shares advanced 2.7 percent to 679.95 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

Colonial Roots

The purchase would give Tata brands with histories dating back to Britain's colonial era. Tata would also gain an overseas sales network after only 10 years of making cars.

Ford said this month it would be a parts supplier to Jaguar and Land Rover after they are sold.

``Jaguar/Land Rover is reliant on a lot of Ford parts,'' Executive Vice President Lewis Booth said at a March 4 analyst conference. `We're going to be partners with whoever buys Jaguar/Land Rover, partners not in a financial sense, but in terms of as a supplier.''

Parent company Tata Group, which also owns units making tea, software and salt, is steering acquisitions by Indian corporations abroad. The group, led by Ratan Tata, bought steelmaker Corus Group Plc for $12.9 billion last year in the biggest-ever purchase by an Indian company. The Tata Motors division signed agreements in 2003 to buy the Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co. for $102 million, its first overseas acquisition.

Tata

Tata Motors controls more than half of India's truck market and about 17 percent of the nation's passenger-car sales. The division was established in 1945 to build locomotives and other engineering products and entered the truck market in 1954 with technology from the former Daimler-Benz AG. The unit unveiled a $2,500 car, called the Nano, in January.

The sale will end two decades of Ford ownership of British luxury brands. The era began in 1987 when Ford bought a controlling interest in Aston Martin, a maker of sports cars costing $100,000 or more.

Ford purchased Jaguar two years later for $2.5 billion and Land Rover in 2000 for $2.73 billion. Under Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally Ford began to unwind the strategy when it sold Aston Martin last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Koenig in Southfield, Michigan at wkoenig@bloomberg.net; Patricia Kuo in Hong Kong at pkuo2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 25, 2008 16:20 EDT