Marques

MG Motor UK has continued to achieve growing sales figures throughout the month of May. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed results confirming that MG continues to outperform the new car market with a year-to-date volume increase of 103% compared with the first five months of 2017. MG more than doubled its registrations in May compared to the same period last year, keeping the brand on course to meet its ambitious sales target. May’s impressive growth was led by the all-new MG ZS compact SUV. The UK’s best value-for-money SUV, the MG ZS starts from just £12,495, includes a 7-year manufacturer warranty and is available on a 5-year, 0% finance deal.

Our Video of the Week for this first week of June features another, and first of the well known, designs that took place under the leadership of Alec Issigonis.  This is the story of the Morris Minor. Over one-and-a-half million Minors were produced between 1948 and 1972. Initially available only as a two-door saloon and convertible, the range was quickly expanded to include a four-door saloon in 1950, a wood-framed estate (the Traveller) in October 1953, and panel van and pick-up truck variants from May of 1953. It was the first British car to sell over one million units and is considered a classic example of automotive design, as well as typifying “Englishness”. Eric Lord, the director of Morris Motors, said that Lord Nuffield thought that the new Morris Minor looked like a poached egg and that the car was narrow […]

Land Rover has addressed the needs of a remote Scottish island in a move that could save lives. As part of its 70th anniversary year of activity, Land Rover sent a team of expert Experience drivers and volunteers to Mull in a fleet of Land Rovers to deliver unique three-word address plaques from what3words to 2,000 properties on the island, many of which are in isolated areas. What3words is a British technology company that has divided the globe into a grid of 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares, each with a unique, easy-to-remember three-word address searchable via an app that even works offline.

Jaguar Land Rover is developing autonomous cars capable of all-terrain, off-road driving in any weather condition. The world-first CORTEX project will take self-driving cars off-road, ensuring they are fully capable in any weather condition: dirt, rain, ice, snow or fog. As part of the project, a ‘5D’ technique combining acoustic, video, radar, light detection and distance sensing (LiDAR) data live in real-time is being engineered. Access to this combined data improves the awareness of the environment the car is in. Machine-learning enables the self-driving car to behave in an increasingly sophisticated way, allowing it to handle any weather condition on any terrain.

Fans of McLaren Automotive and LEGO® now have the opportunity to see the full-size LEGO McLaren 720S on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The 1:1 scale model was completed with help by museum visitors, who placed the final orange bricks on the LEGO® McLaren 720S on Saturday, June 2nd. The full-size model will be on display at the Petersen through August 19, as part of an interactive exhibit. The LEGO  McLaren 720S is made up of more than 280,000 LEGO  bricks, weighing in at 3,200lbs, compared to the road-going 720S’s dry weight of 2,828lbs. In order to produce such an accurate representation of the second-generation of McLaren Super Series, McLaren Automotive worked closely with the only UK certified LEGO® professional builders, providing in-depth vehicle CAD data so that the model could be fully realized.

World-renowned classic car specialist, JD Classics, has appointed former Lotus Group PLC Chief Executive Jean-Marc Gales as CEO. Jean-Marc Gales joins JD Classics from Lotus Group PLC where he was appointed CEO in 2014 and was responsible for transforming the business, driving rapid profitability growth for the iconic brand. Bringing with him more than 30 years’ experience in executive roles within the automotive industry, Gales has led Marketing for Volkswagen and Fiat Groups, worked as Global Sales Director for Mercedes-Benz and stood as President of PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC reported May 2018 US sales: Land Rover reached a new May sales high of 7,103 units, an increase of 42 percent from 4,993 in May 2017; Jaguar sales were 2,366 units, a 24 percent decrease from 3,113 units in May 2017. Jaguar Land Rover May US sales for both brands hit 9,469 units, a 17 percent increase from the previous 8,106 units in May 2017. Jaguar Land Rover continues to achieve strong monthly sales. Our SUVs from both Jaguar and Land Rover clearly are aligned with the current trends in the market place and offer our customers a variety of distinct choices. – Joe Eberhardt President and CEO, Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC For the full year 2017, Jaguar Land Rover US sales reached 114,333 units, up nine percent compared to 105,104 units in […]

Geely Holding Group, China’s leading privately-owned automotive group, announced today that Mr. Feng Qingfeng, vice president and chief technical officer of Geely Auto Group, has been appointed to succeed Jean-Marc Gales as the chief executive officer of Group Lotus effective immediately. Mr. Jean-Marc Gales has chosen to leave for personal reasons and will become Chief Strategic Advisor to Lotus Chairman, Daniel Donghui Li. Geely Holding, which acquired a controlling stake in Group Lotus in 2017, thanked Mr. Gales for his contribution to the company over the past four years.

The Jaguar Owners Association of North Texas (JOANT) again held its Concours D’Elegance in the quaint setting of the Down Town Square in Carrollton Texas. This event had a purpose greater than giving Jaguar Owners the opportunity to put their cars on display. That purpose was to honor longtime club member and major contributor to the success of the club, David Nichols. David had been a member for longer than anyone can remember and held almost every position needed to keep the club running. Lately, he has been the Chief Judge for the concours, so holding this event in his honor was only fitting.

The McLaren 720S has added to its trophy haul by winning the top Best of the Best category of the 2018 Red Dot Design Awards. It is the second time that a new McLaren has been awarded the international seal of outstanding design quality, following the recognition of the McLaren 570S Coupé in 2016. The second-generation Super Series provides a new interpretation of McLaren design language, with a dedication to aerodynamics principles and was singled out by the 40 international judges for its “innovative symbiosis of aesthetics and function”. Criteria for the competition, which is one of the world’s largest design contests, include innovation, functionality, formal quality, ergonomics, and durability. Of the 6,300 products from 59 countries vying for the ultimate Red Dot title in 2018, just one percent were chosen as worthy of the Best of the Best title.

Our video this week comes from our friends over at Take to the Road. In fact, the featured car, a Vauxhall Viceroy, belongs to the site’s own Niall Julian. He told me this about his car and the video: I own a 1982 Vauxhall Viceroy, a car that I doubt many in N America have ever heard of, despite the General Motors connection. It was a mid range luxury saloon, based on the Opel Commodore C from West Germany. The car was first registered to Vauxhall UK in Luton and a couple of weeks ago I took the Viceroy back to where its journey first started. I went to the Vauxhall Heritage Centre and also got some shots outside the factory in Luton. How could I resist a car going back to its home? In the article on Take to the Road, […]

Joe Osborne’s first win as a McLaren Automotive Factory Driver was the headline in what turned into one of the most successful weekends in McLaren’s British GT Championship history, the 570S GT4 scoring both class wins and podiums at Snetterton. In the first race on Sunday morning, Osborne led home a one-two finish for customer Tolman Motorsport and the McLaren 570S GT4. Osborne’s car, which he shares with David Pattison, started the race sixteenth but quickly climbed the order to tenth before the safety car was called into action just a handful of minutes before the pit window opened. With the field bunched up, and the opportunity to pit coming under safety car, almost the entire field came in including Pattison, who handed over to Osborne.

Land Rover has enhanced its record-breaking Discovery Sport range with a new special Landmark edition. The new Landmark Edition salutes Discovery Sport’s success as the fastest-selling Land Rover of all time – coinciding with the brand’s year-long 70th-anniversary celebrations. Powered by Land Rover’s TD4 180PS diesel Ingenium engine, Landmark offers customers the best of the Discovery Sport range with a unique color and trim combination.

Edd China is set to return to our screens with a brand-new collaborative and real-time restoration series on YouTube. The former ‘Wheeler Dealers’ star has joined forces with long-time friend Al Cox for ‘Built by Many’, in which the intrepid duo will work with the audience to rebuild a 1968 Jaguar E-type Series 1 fixed-head coupé. Along the way, they will be delivering a wealth of ‘how to’ videos, plus a back-story on the car and the history of the legendary marque.

As part of a major restructure of Jaguar Land Rover global Marketing, Sales, Service and Public Relations functions, Jaguar Land Rover UK announces Rawdon Glover as UK Managing Director. Jeremy Hicks remains with the business to take up a new position of (Global) Market Performance Director. Effective 2nd July Anthony Bradbury Global Marketing Communications Director has been appointed to the position of UK Marketing Director with Scott Dicken taking up the role of UK Sales Director. Rawdon Glover said: I am delighted to be taking the role of Managing Director for Jaguar Land Rover UK at such an exciting time for the industry. There is so much opportunity to take advantage of with the advent of our electric revolution alongside the introduction of exciting new vehicles and continued development of our retailer network. I can’t wait to get started. With an […]

A recent data breach revealed the records of hundreds of employees at Jaguar Land Rover’s factory in Solihull, England. This breach, which was first reported by the Huffington Post, included employee names as well as personnel issues such as sick days used and disciplinary issues. What is worse, the records were also flagged to indicate who might be let go during the company’s upcoming layoffs. In a bit of a public relations snafu, instead of accepting blame and attempting to apologize for the data breach, JLR initially denied the reports calling them “fake news”.  Obviously, employees are none-too-pleased. As we reported last month, Jaguar Land Rover is planning to cut approximately 1,000 manufacturing jobs due to the diesel scandal and falling sales numbers. The company is cutting the jobs at the Birmingham factory that manufactures the Jaguar F-Pace, Land Rover Discovery, and […]

McLaren Automotive today celebrated the manufacture of its 15,000th car at the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) in Woking, Surrey, just seven years after production first began. The 15,000th car, a 570S Spider in Curacao Blue from the company’s Sports Series family, represents a further significant milestone for the British sportscar and supercar brand and comes less than 18 months after the 10,000th car was completed in December 2016.

Land Rover has announced a host of enhancements to the award-winning Range Rover Velar including a broader engine choice, the latest intelligent safety technology and more features such as air suspension and adaptive dynamics now available as options. The Velar now has a D275 engine option, a 275PS 3.0-litre V6 diesel, producing 625Nm of torque. The new D275 enhances the options across the range and enables customers the flexibility to specify the perfect car for them.