Category: Jaguar

David Smith becomes CEO of JLR
Tata has promoted the current chief financial officer, David Smith, to the position of CEO of Jaguar and Land Rover.
David Smith was managing the new group since Geoff Polites passed away on April 20. Smith started its career by joining Ford in 1983. He worked in New and Emerging Markets and was based in Turkey before joining Land Rover in July 2000 as Director of Finance.
He played a large role in reviving reviving the Jaguar and Land Rover brands and is rumoured to had helped the American carmaker to sell the Aston Martin carmaker last year.
Its mission at Jaguar and Land Rover won’t be easy as the two carmakers will have to make the transition to more fuel efficient models. However he will be helped by the agreement signed by Ford and Tata. The two companies will cooperate on developing hybrid and powertrain technology, as well as shared, global platforms.
June 3, 2008
Tough road ahead for Tata’s Jaguar-Land Rover ride in Europe
The emission issue has the potential to become a major roadblock for Tata Motors and its two new British marques. The Indian carmaker plans to invest £700 million in new technologies.
After Ford’s exit, Jaguar and Land Rover are heading for tough times in Europe as the two companies can’t merge their average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of fleet with the smaller Ford models. Teh tow car companies will likely be heavily taxed when the stricter regulations will be applied in 2012. Tata Motors plans to invest £700 million to to develop and implement new environmental technologies and introduce new manufacturing materials.
While JLR could have offset higher CO2 emission of its fleet by balancing it by Ford’s fleet of light low-emission cars, the same is not possible under Tata Motors as it does not sell cars in Europe. Tata Motors also faces a proposed penalty, or the "excess emissions premium", that companies have to pay for going over the stipulated curve. A premium of 20 euros per gm/km has been proposed in the first year (2012), gradually rising to 35 euros in the second year (2013), 60 euros in the third year (2014) and 95 euros by 2015. Even the most fuel-efficient car sold by Jaguar, the X-Type, currently emits 149 g/km, which is well above the stipulated norms. In 2015, the X-Type would be taxed over around £1,500. The situation appears catastrophic for a Range Rover Sport. For example the Porsche Cayenne Turbo would be £8,000 over taxed in 2012.
May 31, 2008
Jaguar & Land Rover readying hybrid versions
Jaguar and Land Rover are currently working together on adapting hybrid technology on two engines: a 3.0-litre diesel unit and 5.0-litre V8 engine.
The 3.0-litre diesel engine is derived from the 2.7-litre V6 unit sold in the Discovery 3, Range Rover Sport and Jaguar XF. The diesel engine is combined with a hybrid system and will feature the stop and start technology. Despite hybrid technologies, both companies expect to boost fuel efficiency by 10 per cent. As part of the Ford/PSA Peugeot Citroen agreement, will the French group get this new engine?
The petrol engine will be an upgraded version of the current V8. With an increased displacement to 5 litres, the V8 will use the hybrid technology in an attempt to increase its green credentials. However, the main revolution will start in 2012 when both British carmakers will off full-hybrid models. If Jaguar’s approach remains unknown, Land Rover will use a rear-mounted electric engine which will power the rear wheels.
Source: Autocar
May 30, 2008
Jaguar increases its sales
For years, Jaguar has recorded decreasing sales which brought Ford to sell it. As soon as the British carmaker became Indian, the sales started rising again.
The XF might be the car that will save the British marque according to the latest sales results in Europe. Indeed, Jaguar’s European sales were up 69.6 percent in April, totaling 4,047 units. This is the first sales increase since July 2006. Since the beginning of the year, the company sales have risen by 0.4 per cent.
The new XF is mainly responsible for the sales rise as the new saloon recorded a strong demand in the US but also in Europe. The saloon has received more than 18,000 orders since its launch.
This is good news for the British brand. However, the aging competition might have helped Jaguar to achieve those good results. The next-generation Mercedes E-Class will be launched next year, while the next BMW 5-Series will be unveiled within two years. How will the Jaguar XF compare in term of sales with the two successful German models? Jaguar has won the first set, but the path remains long before the company can claim the XF saved it.
May 20, 2008
Alfa Romeo to team up with Jaguar?
Alfa Romeo and Jaguar might team up to compete with the German clique according to company sources.
In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Fiat head of development, Harald Wester said that both companies had entered into talks over new rear-wheel drive platforms. Alfa Romeo is interested in the new Jaguar platform used by Jaguar for the new XF model as the carmaker struggles in upper segments as a result of lack of rear-wheel drive platforms. Buying Jaguar’s platforms would enable the two carmakers to cut production cost.
With Tata, now owner of the British marque, talks might be easier as Ratan Tata, CEO of Tata Motors has had a seat at Fiat’s board since 2006. Furthermore, Fiat advised Tata in the JLR bid.
Alfa Romeo previously talked with Mercedes Benz and GM over possible platform sharing.
April 11, 2008
Tata to announce Jaguar and Land Rover takeover next week
Tata will announce the takeover of the two British carmakers, Jaguar and Land Rover, next week during the Geneva Motor Show.
Ford and Tata came to an agreement after the positive talks Tata executives had with British unions. Last week Tata confirmed that it won’t sell Jaguar as soon as the takeover is done and promised not to have redundancy plans at first.
The announcement will end a tumultuous bidding between Ford and the three bidders, among them, Tata and Mahindra and Mahindra, It will also mark the end of long history and tumultuous history between Ford and Jaguar.
Future will say whether Tata has enough money in the bank to develop Land Rover and give Jaguar the status it deserves.
February 27, 2008
British union confident over Jaguar after Tata talks
Last week, Petrol-Head reported that British unions were meeting Tata executives while a rumour about the sale of Jaguar by the Indian group was spreading in the news. It appears that the meeting went rather well as union confirmed their support to Tata.
"We are confident our members’ long term future is best served by Tata," said Dave Osborne, national secretary for vehicle building at the Unite union. "They totally ruled out offloading Jaguar or building Land Rovers in India." "There’s a couple of clarifications we still need from Ford, but I don’t see any issues arising from that," he added.
He also said Tata had given assurances that engines would still be taken from Ford and that UK manufacturing would be maintained. Jaguar has about 10,000 employees at sites in Coventry, Birmingham, and Liverpool, while Land Rover employs about 9,000 in the West Midlands and Warwickshire. Unite is the main union representing workers at Land Rover and Jaguar, and has about 12,000 members there.
February 25, 2008
2007 Jaguar sales drop by 19%

Jaguar sales have dropped by 19% last year due to the end of life of the S-Type model as the company is expected to be sold by Tata in a few weeks.
The company sold 60,485 cars last year which is far from the target established by the company at the launch of the S-Type. The carmaker executive has announced the goal to boost the sales to 200,000 units per year. After mixed welcome given tot the S-Type and the X-Type failure, the company reached a new low last year.
Hopefully, 2008 promises to be a better year as the eagerly-awaited XF has already generated 10,000 orders, 3,000 from the US only, the largest market for Jaguar. With the introduction of rumoured models, the company might one day achieve the ambitious goal of 200,000 cars considered at the break-even by Ford a few years ago.
But, now the main question is: will Tata get rid of the British carmaker as soon as it buys it?
February 21, 2008
Tata and British union meet thsi week after rumours about a Jaguar sale emerges

Tata executives will meet with officials of the British union representing Ford to talk on the bid over Jaguar and Land Rover. The discussion might be hot as an insider told InsideLine the Indian carmaker plans to sell off the Jaguar brand as soon as it acquires it from Ford.
The British union had given its support to Tata in last November as the carmaker promised to keep all the jobs in the UK. But in three months a lot has changed. “We haven’t really met Tata yet since the presentation last year, so this will be a very important meeting,” Eddie Barrett of Unite told media. Barrett said there are 7,000 jobs at stake in the two companies and that “there is no reason to believe any of it is going to be affected.”
On the other hand, Land Rover has all support form Tata, but once again the future might shadowed for British workers. InsideLine reports that company head Ratan Tata has bought a 450-acre plot of land outside New Delhi where he plans to build a new Land Rover factory.
None of the rumors above have been confirmed by other sources, but in last November Petrol-Head wrote about the possible transfer of the production to India.
February 20, 2008
10,000 orders for the Jaguar XF

Due to be on sale on March 10, the XF has already recorded 10,000 orders worldwide with 3,000 only from the US, a critical market for the British carmaker.
The car will go on sale in the UK, of course, in Europe and in North America at the same time with an average entry price tag of £25,000. For this amount the XF will be powered by a 4.2-litre V8 unit which has an output of 300bhp.
Jaguar hasn’t revealed any number for the forecasted sales, but it is estimated at 20,000 units per year. If demand was bigger than planned the company has the opportunity to use the Land Rover factory.
This comes as a good news for the British carmaker, especially as no campaign has been launched. Jaguar can’t afford a worldwide campaign and promoted the car in typical British way. No money but a the good idea to send a team with 21 cars driving between the dealership in the US to allow selected customer test-driving.
February 19, 2008