Fans of our monthly By the Numbers posts may have noticed the conspicuous absence of sales data for both Jaguar and Land Rover over the past few months. The reason we haven't included their sales figures is because we haven't been able to find them since Ford handed over ownership of the two British brands to Tata. The automaker from India says that it will no longer report U.S. sales data for its two newest assets because of what it calls a strategy that "stresses quality over quantity." A spokeswoman for Jaguar tells Ward's Auto that the brands were forced to report their numbers when owned by Ford and now, since they're privately owned by Tata, they don't have to.

Click above for high-res gallery of the Land Rover LR2 HSE

The LR2 gives Land Rover a semi-affordable entry model that is much more fuel efficient than the rest of the luxury SUV-maker's lineup. To help keep LR2 sales strong in a car market that is increasingly tougher for crossovers and SUVs, Land Rover is reportedly looking at adding a third row of seats by 2010. So the question is, how does Land Rover differentiate the seven-seat LR2 from the five-seater? Sometimes an automaker will just increase the number in the model's name by one, but that apparently doesn't work well with the luxury automaker's brilliantly simple naming convention.

Land Rover sales are tanking along with the rest of SUVs sold here in the States and in Europe, but strong sales in China and Russia are keeping Tata's new luxury SUV brand to within 3% of last year's sales volume. Encouraging sales in emerging markets isn't enough, however, for the Indian automaker to keep from cutting production to hedge against a further worsening of market conditions. In an effort to keep production in line with sales, two shifts have been cut from the Solihull Land Rover plant and 300 workers have been moved to the Castle Broomwich Jaguar plant. Tata is also executing production cuts at the Halewood Jaguar factory where the perpetually disappointing X-Type is produced.

Jaguar XJR-9

Remember the first time you moved out of your parents' house? Suddenly you were out on your own, without the security of a financial safety net. Same goes for car companies, so after Jaguar and Land Rover moved out of the Ford house and in with its new roomie Tata, suddenly the pair of British auto marques is searching for a new financial arrangement. And it's found one, thanks to the close relationship between Tata and Fiat.

It's lonely at the top. If you've got a big budget to buy a big luxury sedan, you're typically looking at a Bentley Arnage or a Rolls-Royce Phantom (Mercedes tried to make a go of it with Maybach, but never really managed to establish itself outside the Persian Gulf and hip-hop videos). Now Jaguar's new owners at Tata want to take on the establishment with a storied name of its own: Daimler.

Click above to view more images of the Tata Nano

Fiat and Tata already have a joint venture to distribute commercial vehicles. If they can do the big stuff, why not the little stuff? Tata and Fiat are looking at an agreement to sell the Tata Nano outside of India in markets where Fiat has a strong presence.

If the deal goes through, and once the car is upgraded to meet Western standards, Tata can take advantage of the Fiat name, marketing, and dealer network. Fiat would probably have a big seller on its hands -- and a slice of every one -- since the car is still expected to maintain a healthy price advantage even after it gets beefed up.

Ratan Tata, the man and mover behind Tata motors, is doing a Meet the Parents tour with Jaguar's oldest and largest U.S. dealers. As the best businesspeople do, he is flying across the States to meet the men and women in charge of his newest brand. Incredibly, it is the first time he has ever stepped inside a Jaguar dealership.

Ratan has probably gone on the whistle-stop tour not only to get to know his dealers, but so his new partners could get a glimpse of the man they've all been wary of ever since Tata emerged as a front-running buyer for the brand. What were dealers telling him? They want they want a convertible sports car like the F-Type, a convertible XJ, and an even more upscale car to compete with Bentley.