Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is expected to announce sometime next week that its Jaguar and Land Rover brands are being sold to India's Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM), according to a British union.

Though Jaguar and Land Rover are both currently owned by Ford, the U.K.-based brands continue to be largely manufactured there. Unite union spokesperson Andrew Dodgshon, said in an interview today that a sale may happen as soon as March 5. Ford already said back in January that Tata was the preferred bidder for the units.

Ford, the world's third biggest automaker behind General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Toyota (NYSE: TM), is selling Jaguar and Land Rover to focus on its core brands after losses of $2.67 billion last year and a record $12.6 billion in 2006. India-based Tata would expand outside the Asian auto markets through the acquisition of such well recognized brands.

More than anything, this sale will help Ford stabilize its financial situation by not only getting a cash influx of around $1.5 billion from the sale but by shedding Jaguar, which Ford has admitted is losing money.

Tata Motors is part of Tata Group, India's biggest conglomerate which includes steel production and consulting services. Tata built the first Indian-designed car and plans to build a $2,500 car later this year. The real importance of this deal in long-run is probably not a milestone on Ford's turnaround but rather a milestone on Tata's path to becoming a major automotive player worldwide. Given the advantages the Indian company has in both the cost of design labor and manufacturing labor, investors in other car companies should be worried.

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