Jaguar

Jaguar Land Rover has announced a closer partnership with CloudCar, including the adoption of its next-generation cloud services platform and a US$15m minority investment in the company. CloudCar, based in Palo Alto, California, is a world-leading developer of connected driver experiences. With machine-learning capabilities tied to various sensors in the car, its cloud services platform allows car manufacturers to use its capability – including improved voice-activated applications and personalisation – while still maintaining their brand identity and retaining ownership of data.

Les Ratcliffe, Jaguar Land Rover’s Head of Community Relations, has been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for outstanding service to the community in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.

Jaguar Land Rover is today opening its doors to female students to give them a deep insight into engineering and manufacturing careers. The students aged 15-18 have all applied for Jaguar Land Rover’s Advanced and Degree Apprenticeship programmes and secured their places on the course after passing initial HR screening and psychometric tests. During the four-day ‘Young Women in the Know’ programme, the students will tour design and manufacturing facilities, network with female employees, spend a day on work placement with a female mentor and brush up their workability skills including CV writing and interview practice. The scheme is running at five Jaguar Land Rover Education Business Partnership Centres in the Midlands and Merseyside.

The Jaguar Classic Challenge returns in 2017 with two brand new events confirmed in the five-race series for pre-1966 Jaguars. A new date for the Jaguar Classic Challenge calendar is the Silverstone Classic on 28-30 July. This special summer weekend will be the third round in the Challenge and is expected to draw a full grid of stunning classic Jaguar racing cars.

The UK’s leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles has announced further global sales growth for November 2016, following a successful month in China and last week’s announcement that its Chinese plant is increasing capacity by over 50%. November % increase(decrease) YOY Jan – November % increase YOY 15/16 Financial Year % increase YOY Jaguar Land Rover 47,588 2 527,937 21 521,571 13 Jaguar 14,613 83 132,381 75 94,449 23 Land Rover 32,975 (14) 395,556 9 427,122 11 Jaguar Land Rover today reported its best ever November retail sales of 47,588 vehicles, up 2% compared to November 2015. The year-on-year growth in retail volumes was driven by strong sales of the new Jaguar XF (with the addition of the long wheel base XFL in China) and F-PACE as well as continuing solid sales of the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range […]

For students of the history of Jaguar Cars, a book written by Chris Cowin, first 2012 and republished 2014 may be of interest. The book, British Leyland: Chronicle of a Car Crash 1968-1978 is simply packed with interesting history. This is the comprehensive story of a collection of once great and diverse British industries, primarily automotive, and their slow but relentless move toward destruction with only a few surviving pieces, Jaguar and Land Rover. For Jaguar only followers much of this book may be irrelevant as it deals in great detail about the downward spiral of the largest indigenous British car companies beginning about 1968 but this date is approximate.

Jaguar’s companion brand, Daimler, was acquired in June 1960.  At the time Daimler made buses,  military vehicles and a range of cars such as the Daimler Dart roadster also known as the SP250 and a large sedan/limousine known as the Majestic Major.  Daimler was long the vehicle supplier to English royalty and can trace its beginnings to earlier than 1900.  After Jaguar acquired Daimler they began to phase out some models and badge engineer existing Jaguar models as Daimlers.    Cars such as the Mark 2 based Daimler 2.5 liter sedan which used Daimler’s own 2.5 liter hemi V8 in place of the Jaguar XK engines. Later there was a whole range of Daimler badged XJ sedans beginning with the Series 1 and continuing through the Series 3. In  1968 Jaguar introduced the DS420 limousine which was based on many of the mechanical components of […]

The first genuine Jaguar XKSS to be built in almost 60 years was today given its world debut presentation at the Petersen Museum, Los Angeles by Jaguar Classic.  The stunning XKSS, finished in Sherwood Green paint, has been created by the Jaguar Classic engineering team ahead of the production of nine cars for delivery to customers across the globe in 2017. Often referred to as the world’s first supercar, the XKSS was originally made by Jaguar as a road-going conversion of the Le Mans-winning D-type, which was built from 1954-1956.  In 1957, nine cars earmarked for export to North America were lost in a fire at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory in the British Midlands; meaning just 16 examples of XKSS were built.

In front of a crowd of hundreds of classic car fans, international bidders online and on the phones, Silverstone Auctions broke several world records and achieved its best ever result at the event, in its two-day sale at the Classic Motor Show this weekend. Taking place at the NEC in Birmingham, 80 percent of the vehicles on offer were successfully sold, for a total sales value of £5.8million.

The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar.  This is a production preview of the Jaguar I-PACE, which will be revealed next year and on the road in 2018. Jaguar’s engineering and design teams have torn up the rule book to create a bespoke electric architecture, matched with dramatic design. The result is a no-compromise smart, five seat sports car and a performance SUV in one.

Jaguar has won Germany’s top car award, the Golden Steering Wheel. The Jaguar XF was voted ‘Best Saloon’ in the Mid-Full-size category, ahead of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Volvo S90. Jaguar had further reason to celebrate in the Large SUV category, with the F-PACE taking second place.

From sweltering Hong Kong to the labyrinthine souks of Marrakesh – Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s second race in the 2016/17 FIA Formula E Championship will offer a striking contrast thanks to the heady flavours of Morocco, as both the all-electric Jaguar I-TYPE and the series make their first appearances on the African continent on November 12. The British manufacturer made a solid start to its motorsport return in October, but is hoping to use the lessons learned on the Hong Kong harbour-front street circuit for its second race. Britain’s Adam Carroll finished 12th in a hectic, safety-car interrupted race, while New Zealander Mitch Evans was forced into retirement by a technical issue.

Jaguar has picked up two Scottish Car of the Year Awards, with the F-PACE named ‘SUV of the Year’ and the XF crowned ‘Luxury Car of the Year’. The accolades mark a decade of success for Jaguar at the annual awards, with the brand collecting 15 wins since 2006, and every new Jaguar winning an award since 1999. These awards are the latest in a line of major UK industry honours for the XF and F-PACE, with the British-built saloon having won seven accolades since its launch just over a year ago, and the F-PACE named Auto Express ‘Car of the Year’ and ‘Best Premium SUV’ by Telegraph Cars since its April introduction.

Strong sales across Europe helped Jaguar Land Rover achieve its strongest global October sales to date, selling 46,325 vehicles, up 12% year on year. The month’s performance was driven by improved sales of the Land Rover Discovery Sport, the Range Rover Evoque and the Jaguar F-PACE. Jaguar Land Rover sold 480,349 vehicles in the first ten months of 2016, up 23% on the same period in the prior year. Jaguar Land Rover delivered solid retail sales growth across all key regions year on year: Europe up 33%, China up 29%, North America up 25%, UK up 22% and other overseas markets up 4%.

Tata Sons, the holding company for JLR parent company, Tata Motors, has ousted its CEO, Cyrus Mistry. Temporarily taking the reins will be Tata family insider, and former CEO Ratan Tata. The Indian conglomerate is conducting a four-month search to determine who will be next at the helm. Mistry, 48, was the sixth chairman in Tata’s 150-year history. The firm controls 100 companies worldwide, including Tetley Tea and Tata Steel. No information has been forthcoming as to the reason for Mistry’s exit, though rumors abound that there were questions regarding Mistry’s stewardship of the company. Some news outlets are reporting that Tata felt Mistry was selling off too much of he company holdings, and therefore not protecting the Tata “family jewels.” Mistry was also the first Tata CEO to not be a member of the Tata family.  

Jaguar Land Rover showcased its latest Connected and Autonomous Vehicle technologies as part of the UK Autodrive demonstrations taking place at HORIBA MIRA. In a UK first, Jaguar Land Rover is working with Ford and Tata Motors European Technical Centre to test connected technologies that will allow cars to talk to each other as well as the roadside infrastructure, such as traffic lights, in the future. Connected and Autonomous Vehicle technologies are one of Jaguar Land Rover’s research priorities. It is creating a fleet of more than 100 research vehicles to develop and test a wide range of Connected and Autonomous Vehicle technologies over the next four years. Ultimately, these technologies will enhance the driving experience as well as making driving smarter, safer and even cleaner in the years to come. Tony Harper, Head of Research, Jaguar Land Rover, said: […]

This year The Classic & Sports Car Show will honour the Jaguar Le Mans hero that never was – the incredible XJ13 – and the man forever associated with it, Norman Dewis OBE. On entry to this year’s event, visitors will be greeted in the Palm Court area by this iconic prototype, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Jaguar Land Rover today announced its new global ambassador Noodle, Japanese guitarist and founder member of virtual British band Gorillaz. Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s leading investor in Research and Development and a leading global automotive manufacturer today also announced its commitment to addressing the skills gap that manufacturing, worldwide is facing.