Cerberus, the private equity group that has just bought Chrysler, is now voicing interest in a possible bid for one or both of Ford Motor's two UKluxury brands - Land Rover and Jaguar.

According to two people with direct knowledge of the matter, the buy-out group, which secured Chrysler last month for $7.4bn (£3.8bn), has voiced preliminary interest in Ford's sale of the two marques, for which other private equity groups and financial investors will also probablycompete.