Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire head of the Russian Gaz Group, which is buying the British van maker LDV, has been linked to a possible bid for Jaguar, the luxury carmaker owned by Ford.
Jaguar's future has been under the spotlight since news that the US carmaker had asked the Goldman Sachs banker Kenneth Leet to look at a "a broad range of strategic alternatives".
Ford's chairman, Bill Ford, has said on a number of occasions that Jaguar, part of the company's premier automotive group alongside brands such as Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo, is not for sale. However, after Ford announced last week that it had lost $123m (€95m) in the second quarter, Mr Ford and his colleagues are under pressure to improve performance.
That has led to increasing speculation that the strategic review could see the British luxury carmaker put up for sale. There have also been suggestions that Land Rover will be sold alongside Jaguar.
Ford bought Jaguar for £1.6bn (€2.4bn) in 1989 but it has struggled to become consistently profitable. In 2004 the company unveiled a turnaround plan after a disastrous dash for growth. As part of the recovery programme, production at the company's Browns Lane plant in Coventry was shifted to Jaguar's other West Midlands production facility, at Castle Bromwich, with the loss of more than 1,000 jobs.
Jaguar, which is still making losses, produced about 90,000 cars last year and is looking to restore fortunes by concentrating on its premium image rather than volume with the launch of models such as the XK. It has been held back in the US market by fierce competition and the weakness of the dollar. Last week a spokesman said the recovery plan remained "on track".
Mr Deripaska's Gaz Group is Russia's second-largest automotive company and the seventh-largest commercial vehicle maker in the world. It would have the resources to buy Jaguar if it came up for sale. However, industry sources questioned whether it would be interested in Jaguar.
"Gaz Group is looking at international expansion but its strategic focus is on commercial vehicles, not on the luxury end of the car market," one observer said.