Jaguar and Land Rover may have turned over new leaves with the recent launch of the new XJ and the strong showing of the Range Rover SUV, but they still couldn’t escape the reality of seeing the staggering amount of money – to the tune of $1.1 billion - they lost in 2008.

It’s a mind-numbing number that can be attributed to the global financial crisis, which has battered the auto industry. In their defense, the two manufacturers aren’t alone in reporting losses from the previous year, but it must be a bitter pill to swallow for both automakers, especially when they reported a profit of $1.05 billion in 2007.

What goes around does indeed, come around.

Continued after the jump.

While fears of plummeting sales have long been out in the open, both Jaguar and Land Rover couldn’t have possibly braced themselves from the reality that they lost this much in a year.

It hasn’t been an easy year for Jaguar and Land Rover, to say the least. Both companies were eventually sold to Indian carmaker, Tata as a result of their spiral from respectability. In the meantime, Tata has now applied for a loan from the UK government to offset the money Jaguar and Land Rover has lost in 2008.

The latest news regarding the potential loan has Tata receiving well over $288 million from the UK government, although a number of kinks are still yet to be ironed out between the government and Tata Motors. For one, Tata is requesting a 12-month loan, which is six months more than the UK government is prepared to give.

It remains to be seen how Jaguar and Land Rover can escape this puddle mess, but it’s given itself a fighter’s chance thanks to the strong sales of the Range Rover, as well as the positive feedback the new XJ and XF models have gotten from global consumers.

Hopefully, this piece of good news would spark a turnaround in the fortunes of both brands and from the early returns, it just might be the break both Jaguar and Land Rover have been looking for.