British car guide WhatCar? has announced its 2008 car of the year awards. The categories range from supermini to performance, and every class in-between. Throughout the results common themes are apparent. No matter what type of vehicle they are looking for, British consumers are in need of everyday practicality along with fuel economy. Practicality comes in the form of tight packages that do not sacrifice storage space or good handling characteristics. Fuel economy comes in the form of small diesel engines powering almost every vehicle on the list. WhatCar? also seems to have a bit of a bias towards makes with British heritage. It named the Jaguar XF 2.7D V6 Luxury their overall 2008 Car of the Year. The Jag was also the winner of the executive car category. They noted that the car’s classic refined Jaguar design mixed with modern details is what won them over.
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Land Rovers Start Rolling Out of India
Land Rovers began rolling off the assembly line Friday at the British brand’s first plant in India since it was bought by the Indian car giant Tata Motors. Parts are still being manufactured at Jaguar Land Rover’s plant in Liverpool, England, but Land Rover Freelander 2 SUV’s are now being built in the western Indian city of Pune. India offers Jaguar great opportunities to build cars for less, Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive officer and managing director of Tata Motors, told reporters. “Clearly, India can be a very attractive sourcing base, an opportunity to source increasingly high quality but lower cost components not only for India operations but for overseas operations,” he said. Forster has already indicated that Indian engineering will also play a role in the design of Jaguar Land Rover engines. Tata bought Jaguar from Ford in 2008 for […]
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Jaguar Launches AWD in North America
Jaguar has launched an all-wheel-drive version of its XF and XJ models in North America in the hope that the extreme weather conditions characteristic of the region’s “snow states” will drive demand. The luxury carmaker, part of the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) group, chose the Meatpacking District in Manhattan, New York, to put the AWD ehicles on display to the public yesterday. “The cars will be perfectly set up for the extremes of weather that can hit this part of the world,” said Andy Goss, the President of Jaguar Land Rover in North America. “When it snows here it snows. We need to have products that are technically capable of coping with extreme weather conditions.” Read further details on The Telegraph Staff
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Jaguar poised to shut for the summer
Executives at Jaguar Land Rover, the Midlands carmaker, are drawing up plans for an extended shutdown of its UK plants and a new round of staff layoffs as it struggles to cope with the slump in the world car market. Preparation for the closures comes just days after the company released its new flagship, the latest version of the Jaguar XJ beloved by prime ministers and top British executives. Staff