Jaguar has offset a slump in the US by recording its best September sales figures in the UK. It has revealed sales of 6,200 cars last month.

The key seller was the X-Type, of which 27,000 have been sold so far this year, 19% up year-on-year.

The XJ and S-Type saloons and the XK sports car all saw sales gains in the UK during the month.

However, Jaguar suffered nearly a 40% drop in US sales in September, 19.5% down the year.

Yesterday, union leaders and politicians were awaiting the outcome of talks between Chancellor Gordon Brown, who is the US for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund, and senior directors of Jaguar parent group Ford over plans to close the Browns Lane factory at Coventry.

There are fears that Ford's decision to end car production at Jaguar's Browns Lane plant heralds a wider shake up in its luxury car division, which also includes Land Rover and Aston Martin.

  • The 2004 Jaguar X-Type has been given the worst rating of any midsize car in side-impact crash tests conducted by the US insurance industry. The X-Type fared worse than some less expensive cars, according to test results released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

    The institute's test measures the impact on dummies in the front and back seats of a sedan that is struck in the side by a sport utility vehicle travelling at 31 mph. The government's test mimics a side-impact crash involving two cars.

    Adrian Lund, the institute's chief operating officer, said the Jaguar's side airbags protected the dummies' heads, but the side of the vehicle was crushed and could have caused severe injuries to the driver's torso.