According to Autocar in the UK, Jaguar Land Rover is still hard at work on series hybrid vehicles. Similar to the stance General Motors has taken with the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, Jaguar believes that the only real way electric vehicles can be made compatible with everyday life is to add a small range-extending gasoline-powered engine that’s capable of keeping the batteries charged on the go.

Unlike GM, though, Jaguar has seen fit to contract its small engine work out to Lotus, which makes sense given the two British company’s differing product specialties. Lotus has reportedly delivered a 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine that generates 35kW of power, which is carried – with a little help from a UK government grant or two – inside a new 2011 XJ sedan with a lithium ion battery pack.

Motive force comes courtesy of what Autocar believes is a 145kW (194 horsepower) electric motor with 295 pound-feet of torque. Performance specifications sound pretty good – though not quite as impressive as we might have imagined – assuming all of this is accurate, with a range of 600 miles, combined fuel economy of 47 miles per gallon (57 mpg UK) and carbon emissions of under 120 g/km. Top speed would reportedly come in at 112 miles per hour.

An unnamed source at Jaguar tells Autocar that the electric XJ handles quite well “because of the bulk that’s removed from car when you strip out the conventional drivetrain.” Future Range Rover models are also rumored to get a similar drivetrain.

[Source:Autoblog]

The man installed by Tata to guide the Jaguar/Land Rover ship, David Smith, has left the company. Smith was the head of finance for Ford Europe, and had helped sell Aston Martin to Dave Richards’ group before he assisted in the sale of Jaguar to Tata. He has been the CEO since 2008, and just last year helped the company secure a £340 million ($553 million) European Investment Bank loan guarantee. A short statement from the company itself gave no reason for the departure, saying only that Ravi Kant, company director, will take over in the meantime while a successor is found.

[Source: Jaguar/Land Rover, BBC]

[Source:Autoblog]

As if the X-Type experiment didn’t go poorly enough, the Leaper may be heading back to the wagon trough, with four-cylinder engines, no less. Yet it’s not as lame as it sounds. According to Autocar, the idea of an XF wagon is on the plate for when the model gets its refresh in 2012. Jaguar wants to beat back its Audi and BMW estate car rivals, and were it to have a five-door XF, the car’s sales would stand a good chance of being on top, instead of in third place in UK sales.

The four-cylinder talk centers around a diesel engine that is rumored to be a revised 2.2-liter borrowed from Ford by way of Land Rover. While the XF’s current V8 has taken some flak for being an underachiever, it at least provides a delightful soundtrack. The bray of a four, even a diesel, may be acceptable to UK buyers who already snap up such powertrains in competitors wagons, but we’d want our family-style XF to kick it with big V8 brawn. Here’s hoping we get the chance.

[Source:Autoblog]

We may still be a ways off before customers – on this side of the Atlantic especially – can begin placing orders for a new Jaguar XJ, but that hasn’t stopped Coventry from launching its online configurator post haste.

Visitors to the Jaguar website can spec out their dream Jag and find out already just how much they should be putting aside. The configurator lets you choose between the three levels of specification (standard, Supercharged or Supersport) and wheelbase (standard or extended) before going on to choose from a palette of 14 exterior paint colors, six unique wheels, six interior leather trims and six veneers, as well as no-cost options like deleted badging, an ashtray and lighter, leather steering wheel and a whole mess of optional accessories from floor mats to chromed rims. So sit back, cancel your plans for the evening and take the leap.

[Source: AutoBlog]

There’s a lot to love about the all-new Jaguar XJ, but if the slick dual-view console screen system was one of the elements that caught your attention amidst the big cat’s debut, you may be in for a disappointment. With the dual-view system, Jaguar devised a way to let the passenger watch a movie, for instance, while the driver sees the navigation system. The idea is to keep the passenger entertained without distracting the driver, offering up the best of both worlds. Problem is, it may be illegal in the United States.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration currently prohibits the display of entertainment in the center console. The idea is that it would distract the driver, and they’re right. However while the XJ’s display may be “technically illegal”, as Jaguar’s noted designer Ian Callum admits – that is, by the letter of the law – the whole point of the system is that it removes the distraction from the driver’s eyesight, thereby complying with the spirit of the law. Whether the NHTSA will change the regulations to allow the system, however, remains to be seen. Think they ought to let this one pass, or is the law the law and that’s that? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

[Source: AutoBlog]

The steep downturn of the world’s luxury automotive markets has taken a toll on Jaguar/Land Rover, and the company’s bottom line has taken a huge hit as a result. Automotive News is citing a Financial Times report that says Tata Motors’ British luxury marques lost 673.4 million pounds ($1.11 billion U.S.) in 2008. That’s a $2 billion swing from the 641.5 million pound ($1.05 billion) profit the British brands earned in 2007. Tata Motors said last month that Jaguar/Land Rover lost 306 million pounds ($504 million) for for the fiscal year ending March 2009.

The Financial Times report comes as Tata Motors is working out a deal with the British government to provide short-term financing for the cash-strapped automaker. The report that says the U.K. government is willing to provide a 175 million pound ($288 million) commercial bridge loan to keep operations running. The reports says Tata Motors would like a 12-month loan, while the British government would like a six-month term, along with representation on the board.

[Source:Autoblog]

In January, the UK government set aside £2.3 billion for loan guarantees to help automakers start producing electric cars on the island. In April, Tata applied for £10 billion from the program to build its Indica Vista EV. Last week the Indian firm was told that it would be another eight weeks before the Department for Business Innovation and Skills would decide on Tata’s application.

Tata can’t understand what the holdup is and plans to deliver a petition to the minister in charge of the program to make its case. It can’t help that while Tata waits it’s watching UK government figures give speeches at Nissan facilities in an attempt to woo the Japanese automaker to produce electric cars in England. Nor can it help that Tata’s Norwegian arm has already been approved by for a loan by the Norwegian government to make electric cars there.

Tata is also waiting on its €340 billion European Investment Bank loan to be approved by the UK government. That loan was for Jaguar and Land Rover aid, but the issue of both loans is said to be about the British government wanting to make sure that Tata can repay the money. If the government doesn’t decide soon, they might have much bigger things to deliberate on — like more job losses at JLR…

[Source: Guardian]

[Source:Autoblog]

For any of you looking to get an even better look – or perhaps just additional looks – at the 2010 Jaguar XJ, we’ve added about 40 new photos to our gallery.

If you want to get an early gander at the car in person and you’re in London next week, Jag’s top cat will be at the Gulf Luxury Fair at the InterContinental Hotel on Park Lane. The event caters to the luxury crowd that Jaguar would like to reacquaint itself with, and takes place from July 25-27. For the rest of us, there is the high-res gallery below.

[Source:Autoblog]

With its aggressive stance, classic lines and deep-throated growl, it’d take a really breathtaking array of exotic machinery to let a car like the Jaguar XKR go by unnoticed. Unfortunately for Jaguar, that’s exactly what rolls up Lord March’s lawn every summer for the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The stoic British marque has a long history of participation in the event, and came this year with its 225mph XFR and a host of rare classics. But apparently eager to make its mark, Jaguar turned up with a special-edition XKR, painting it a retina-burning shade of lime green with orange decals, just to make sure it got noticed.

The Goodwood Special upgrades the stock XKR with a lowered suspension, retuned exhaust, 21-inch alloys and satin graphite trim replacing the chrome. But the real treat is under the hood, where Coventry’s finest have squeezed out a further twenty ponies from the supercharged 5.0-liter V8 for a total of 530 horsepower and 515 lb-ft of torque. Considering that the (anything but) ordinary 510 hp version rockets to 60 mph in just 4.6 seconds, the extra power promises to take the sport coupe into even more rarified territory. Unfortunately for the time being the Goodwood Special remains a one-off, but Jaguar is reportedly keeping its ear to the ground for enough feedback to offer a limited production run. Check out the high-res gallery of images by clicking the thumbnails below.

[Source:Carscoop]

The thing about limited editions is that there are bound to be at least a few customers disappointed that they couldn’t get their hands on one. That’s the whole point, keeping demand higher than supply and thus ensuring a high price. So it’s a little unusual to see an automaker or aftermarket supplier going back and reopening the supply lines, especially if the model in question has already been replaced. But that’s exactly what British tuning house Arden has done with the AJ18.

Based on the previous-generation XK, Arden debuted this limited-edition track-inspired Jag coupe nearly ten years ago at the 1999 Frankfurt Motor Show, pegging production at just 13 units. A decade gone by, Arden has announced the availability of an additional five examples, bringing the total run up to 18 pieces. What sets the AJ18 apart from the stock XK8 is the carbon-composite aero kit, custom grilles and bumpers, narrow wing mirrors, giant rear wing and 20-inch Sportline rims hiding 370mm brake discs with 6-piston calipers mounted to a lowered Bilstein suspension.

We’d just as soon go out and buy a new XK, dynamically superior as it is to its successor in just about every way, but if you’ve already got a previous-generation model in your driveway and still regret missing your chance to upgrade it to the Arden AJ18, this will probably be your last chance. Probably.

[Source: Carscoop]