Daimler will reappear in the world's upmarket car showrooms this autumn after an absence of seven years.
Jaguar, which has owned the brand since 1960, yesterday released the first pictures of the new Daimler Super Eight, which is expected to command a price of more than £80,000.
Complete with the classic fluted radiator grille, the new car, which is expected to sell in hundreds rather than thousands a year, is claimed to be the most advanced Daimler ever built.
It will be built alongside the XJ, the mid-range SType and the XK sports car at Jaguar's factory at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.
Based on the successful Jaguar XJ lightweight allaluminium body, the Super Eight is powered by a 4.2 litre supercharged 400bhp V8 engine.
The luxuriously equipped car - it comes with burr walnut veneers, boxwood inlays and leather trim - is aimed at wealthy owners in the Far East as well as in Daimler's traditional markets such as the UK, Switzerland, France and Belgium.
Jaguar, part of Ford's luxury Premier Automotive Group, which also includes Land Rover and Aston Martin, said a "groundswell of customer demand" had led to revive the Daimler brand.
It is seen as a key element of the company's drive to get back into profit by focusing on the lower volume, higher margin, more lucrative luxury sector of the car market, where it currently competes with the XJ range of luxury saloons.
It hopes of a financial turnaround riding not so much on the higher volume but less profitable model, the X-Type, or so-called "Baby Jag" which it builds at Halewood on Merseyside.
Despite being Jaguar's top selling car and despite being built at one of the most efficient car factories in the world, the X-Type has not given the company the hoped for breakthrough in the mass market where it competes with the likes of the BMW 3-series.
"The new Daimler Super Eight is a premium product for a premier customer base," said Bibiana Boerio, managing director of Jaguar Cars.
