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.
Corporate Business
Ford to Retain None of Jaguar and Land Rover
Ford Motor has no plans to keep a stake in its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands, an industry source told Automotive News Europe. Ford earlier this month picked Tata Motors as the front-runner to the purchase of the two brands. It had been thought that Ford would wish to keep a stake in Jaguar-Land Rover to protect its supply contracts for components such as engines. “There is no need for it,” the source said. “Ford really wants to concentrate on its North American operations, that is the whole reason why it is selling Jaguar and Land Rover.” Retaining a stake, however small, would only divert management time from the North American turnaround plan, the source said. By John Revill, Automotive News, Europe Staff
New Cars
Preview: 2010 Jaguar XKR
The 2010 Jaguar XKR would be considered, by most accounts, a mild revision of the outgoing model. Its state-of-the-art aluminum monocoque chassis carries over unchanged. The design, save for a few minor updates, is the same as the outgoing model’s. But few would count that against the silken Jag, whose curvaceous lines are almost universally admired in the industry. No, what separates the new XKR from its predecessor is the heart transplant it has undergone: in the place of the 420-horsepower AJ34S supercharged V8, the beating heart of the new XKR, is the next-generation 5-liter version, its supercharger supplemented by direct injection to twist out an astonishing 510 horsepower. That figure alone puts the Jag well ahead of Aston’s V8 Vantage, ahead of the V12-powered DB9 as a matter of fact, and on par with the flagship DBS supercar that […]
Jaguar
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