After nearly two decades of ownership, troubled Ford Motor may be ready to hang a for-sale sign on troubled British luxury brand Jaguar.

Ford has poured billions of dollars into Jaguar trying to make it work. But now the automaker is facing a broader financial crisis after losing $1.4 billion in the first half of this year. Top executives have said they're looking at all options for restructuring the company.

Speculation that Ford may put its Jaguar unit up for sale heightened last week after the Detroit automaker announced it was looking for a buyer for its Aston Martin brand.

The company said that it was exploring the sale of all or part of the iconic Aston Martin line — made famous in James Bond movies — to raise capital for its other brands.

Company officials would not speculate on the possible sale of Jaguar. "Ford is on the record as saying it has no imminent plans to divest itself of any of its businesses," says Jaguar spokesman Don Hume.

Ford has undeniably raised the quality of Jaguar, one of the world's best-known and most-desired brands. But Ford has been criticized for letting Jaguar's look age, relying on updates of older models rather than pushing the styling forward. It also pushed the brand to grow too much and too fast, people inside and outside Ford say.

"They were too ambitious. They were trying to run rather than walk," says Michael Wynn-Williams, an analyst with U.K.-based Trend Tracker. "A brand like Jaguar takes years to get more popular."

Now could be a good time to sell the brand. Jaguar appears to be on the verge of a revitalization, reverting its focus to high-margin, low-volume products. The recent XJ sedan is a hit with critics and is sold out through the end of the year, Ford says. Even Jaguar's critics think the brand has a future and can be turned around. And potential buyers appear to be lining up.

"I don't think it's lost its steam," says Charles Lemonides, chief investment officer for investment firm ValueWorks. "It has cachet. The nameplate 'Jaguar' does mean something to people. I would think someone will be able to extract value from that."

"I'd buy Jaguar," jokes Gerald Meyers, a consultant who once was chairman of American Motors, later bought by Chrysler. He estimates the brand name is worth $1 billion to $2 billion, providing a potential buyer doesn't have to put $6 billion more into it to turn it around. "If you got it cheap enough, it can pay off. But you aren't going to get 500,000 units out of it. It's going to be a very specialized brand for a very specialized market."

Ford didn't buy Jaguar at a bargain price. In 1989, it got into a bidding war of sorts with General Motors and ended up spending $2.5 billion for the brand, which was troubled even then. Industry experts estimate that was about $1.2 billion more than Jaguar was worth.

Since then, Ford has poured $9.5 billion more into the brand to improve quality and change product lines, according to a source with direct information who didn't want to be named because the information is not public. That includes a $1.2 billion payment doled out in December to help Jaguar restructure, according to the source.

"They never should have bought it," Meyers says. The Ford family "was kind of excited about the luster of having a premium vehicle in the line, and Ford is not distinguished by having premium vehicles. It was kind of a vanity thing."