But Ford has... Austin Martin too, right?

They do and are turning out some stunning new cars.

http://www.astonmartin.com/base.html (sorry, typical flash heavy car manufacturer site)

heard the rumor of a cheap-o Fordified Jag that was pending.

That would be the Jaguar X-Type which shares it's underlying platform with the Ford Mondeo, the launch model had 4 wheel drive, but there is a front wheel drive one in the range as well now. The X-Type has be very, very well received by motoring journalists in the UK, I think it has one every group test it has been in.

http://www.jaguar.com/us/