JAGUAR X-Type saved Halewood’s car plant from closure when then parent company Ford awarded the luxury car to the Knowsley factory in 1998.

A year earlier, the car maker announced the end of Ford Escort production at the site and that the honour of building the new- generation Escort would go to Spain.

Many anticipated closure as the only outcome for a plant that had a woeful industrial relations record.

But a dogged campaign by unions, the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo, and local MPs, persuaded Ford to commit £380m of new investment into Halewood, along with a £43m subsidy from Tony Blair’s new Labour Government.

An up-shift of quality from the high-volume Escort to the sleek Jaguar X-Type resulted in Halewood consistently being named as the best-performing and most efficient of all Ford’s worldwide network of car factories.

Plant bosses remarked that, as car workers embraced Jaguar’s high standards of quality and production, the last few Escorts leaving the Halewood line were the best that were ever produced there.

But, even before the first X-Type rolled off the production lines in May, 2001, it was the subject of controversy, with Porsche chairman Wendelin Wiedeking crying foul over the Government’s subsidy.

He said Europe’s car industry should stand on its own two feet, arguing: “it is a ripe industry which must face competition.

“Whoever is not competitive has got a problem.”

Nevertheless, Ford’s spectacular turnaround went ahead and the first models appeared to critical acclaim, offering a bright new future to the plant and its then 2,400 staff.

Jonathan Browning, who was then Jaguar managing director, declared: “Our future now relies on Halewood.”

However, in 2001, Jaguar was forced to soften its sales projections for the X-Type.

Mr Browning had predicted sales of the X-Type would reach 100,000 by 2003 or 2004, but revised that to 2005 or 2006.

Industry experts said it was due to a weakening of the US car market and the lack of a diesel-powered X-Type.

Many commentators believe the delay in offering a diesel version severely damaged X-Type’s saleability in overseas markets.

Then, in October, 2007, it was announced that X-Type exports to America would cease in spring, 2008, due to the soaring dollar which skewed profit margins on US sales.

And, in July this year, new owner Tata Motors announced the X-Type dream was over, with the end of production this year and the loss of 300 jobs.