China to be No 2 market for Jaguar Land Rover after UK

China is set to become the second largest market for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) this fiscal year after the home market UK. For Tata Motors-owned JLR, China with its 87% growth in sales is the fastest growing market and is poised to surpass Europe and North America in terms of sales volume.



JLR sales in China nearly doubled to 10,869 units in the second quarter of the fiscal from 5,801 units in the corresponding period last fiscal. Meanwhile, Europe, the traditionally important market for JLR which passes through huge financial turmoil, showed a sluggish 5% growth by clocking 12,458 units and North America showed flat growth by selling 12,106 units.

According to the company's assessment, China is on course to become the second largest market for Land Rover and third largest for Jaguar in FY 2011-12.

Range Rover Evoque, the smallest, lightest and most fuel-efficient Range Rover model by British off-road legend Land Rover officially hit the markets simultaneously in Beijing and Shanghai on Nov 8.

The Evoque coupe is priced from 638,000 yuan and a five-door version starts at 628,000 yuan.

With a 240 hp 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine and a body made with lightweight materials, the Evoque is also "an excellent demonstration of the marque's commitment to environmental sustainability", said Christopher Brown, executive vice-president of Jaguar Land Rover China

In the first 10 months of 2011, Jaguar Land Rover sold 32,143 vehicles in China, up 60 percent from the same period in 2010.



JLR top management has been intensely trying to find a Chinese partner to start local manufacturing, which will substantially bring down the retail cost of its offerings and boost sales dramatically. "We have shortlisted a few potential local partners. Discussions are progressing," said Ralf Speth, MD & CEO, JLR.

Kenneth Gregor, CFO, JLR, said there is a strong demand for Jaguar XJ 3.0, which was introduced in China in March 2011. He expects Range Rover Evoque, which will roll out in China soon, to further boost JLR demand.

Source: Hindustan Times & China Daily

Jaguar XF and XJ saloon cars with 4WD will be launched by 2014!

Jaguar has planned to up the ante with an all new four-wheel drive sedan range. Jaguar top boss Adrian Hallmark has revealed that the British car maker will soon debut four-wheel drive versions of their XF and XJ sadans. According the Jaguar official these cars will be important for the company and will be the stimulant for its growth in the huge market across the Atlantic. Cars with four-wheel drive are particularly popular in places which experience snowfall in winters.

It is a huge untapped market for Jaguar and hence the car maker has chalked out plans to enter the 4WD sedan segment, he said. Even as the market calls for development of economical automobiles and hybrids, Jaguar believes hybrid technology is still too expensive to make it viable for them and hence to provide an initial sales boost, they have decided to target the 4WD segment instead of running behind hybrid-tech. It is quite a surprising decision since, the German brands are way ahead of their competition when it comes to development of hybrid-tech for their cars.

However, it does not mean that Jaguar won’t develop hybrids in the future. The priority for Jaguar at the moment is to complete the development of a four-wheel drive system for their cars with a global launch expected in the next couple of years. The development of the new drivetrain could also pave the way for a 4×4 SUV from Jaguar in the future. The United States is a big market for SUVs and Jaguar might have plans to enter the fray as well. Hallmark was speaking on the side lines of the Los Angeles motor show and here what he had to say,

“In the past all-wheel-drive has meant Audi and Quattro, but now it is something that the market expects,” said Hallmark, speaking at the Los Angeles motor show. “In the snowbelt of America it accounts for 70 per cent of sales, and overall it counts for 30 per cent of sales, so we are working on it and in the final stages of a decision. It is core to our future offering.”

The development of four-wheel-drive vehicles has been prioritized ahead of developing hybrids at Jaguar, as it is believed it will give a more immediate sales boost.

“Hybrid technology is currently very expensive,” said Hallmark. “The customer doesn’t want to pay for it yet, so while it is something we will develop for the market, it is a longer-term project.”

Source: Autocar & ICB

Jaguar XJ 3.0 Diesel is a Gold Winner

The Jaguar XJ 3.0 litre diesel received a Green Apple Environment Award being named the Gold winner for Luxury Green Vehicles.

The Jaguar XJ 3.0 litre diesel received a Green Apple Environment Award being named the Gold winner for Luxury Green Vehicles.

Managing Director of Jaguar UK Jeremy Hicks said “this award recognises the XJ's ability to achieve high levels of economy and efficiency without compromising on luxury and quality. The XJ continues to receive awards across the board we are delighted with its success.”

The Jaguar XJ is priced from £55,515 and this month the Jaguar XJ Sport and Speed pack has been launched in supercharged form which is the fastest and most dynamic XJ ever created.

The Jaguar XJ offers three engines with four trim levels. The range starts with the 3.0 litre V6 petrol engine which generates 238 bhp and returns 40.1 mpg.

The next step is the Premium Luxury followed by the Portfolio both of which can be specified with a 5.0 litre V8 petrol engine. Top of the range is a supercharged version of the V8 which generates 470bhp which is only available in sport trim. With its lightweight aluminium architecture, the Jaguar XJ is the most efficient luxury car in its class capable of achieving 39.2 mpg, whilst retaining high levels of performance and refinement.



Source: Motoring

Jaguar planning for Small, Luxury City Car.

Traditionally, small city cars haven’t been viewed by the mainstream auto industry or most car buyers with much enthusiasm.



Now they’re so trendy that even renowned luxury brands like Jaguar want to build one.

Speaking with What Car? magazine at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, Jaugar design boss Ian Callum revealed that the British prestige automaker was seriously considering building a car to rival smaller cars like the Toyota iQ-based Aston Martin Cygnet minicar.

“It’s a personal view, but there’s room for a premium small car,” Callum explained. “It would be a high-end small car for city use.”

Is there a market for a smaller Jaguar? Probably not in most cities in the U.S., but as more and more places around the world chose to adopt heavy taxation schemes designed to keep larger-engined, heavily-polluting cars out of city centers, there is an emerging market for premium, high-gas mileage city cars.

“The big challenges would be economic and creating a business for it, along with making a small car feel like a Jaguar and have the right levels of refinement and luxury,” Callum told What Car?, adding that the car could easily be a hatchback, coupe or even small sedan.



Source: Green Car Reports

Five Minutes on the C-X16 with Jaguar’s Adrian Hallmark, Ralf Speth, and Andy Goss

Jaguar has long been know for its designs, but has had some real knockouts one after the other in the past few years in the forms of the C-XF, C-X75, and C-X16 concepts, and the XF and XJ production cars. We were able to sit down with Jaguar Global Brand Director Adrian Hallmark and his colleagues Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar/Land Rover, and Andy Goss, the head of Jaguar Land Rover North America. We picked their brains about their most recent — and stunning — concept car, the C-X16.

Automobile Magazine: Timing on the C-X16?

Adrian Hallmark: We haven’t made a decision yet.

Automobile Magazine: What’s the soonest?

Adrian Hallmark: The decision? We could make it today, but the project is at least a couple of years away. We’ve done a lot of development work around the concept, but there’s a lot more to do.

Automobile Magazine: Is this a 911 competitor?

Adrian Hallmark: No, it’s a Jaguar. If you took the hybrid and all the technology out and had a supercharged V-6, that could be priced, roughly, somewhere between the top of Porsche Cayman R and the bottom of 911. So, less than a 911, but more than a Cayman.

Automobile Magazine: Do you want to introduce it with the hybrid, and then bring in other powertrains later?

Adrian Hallmark: No, I think we wanted to debut the concept with this powertrain, because we’ve actually learned a lot from working on the CX-75 (2010 Paris Motor Show supercar concept). One example is, we’ve got air-conditioned batteries, what that does in terms of power extraction and efficiency of the batteries is incredible. We’ve got, with another battery partner, a patented technology that’s in this C-X16 concept, but it came from the CX-75 research work. So, we’ve also learned about how to integrate the motor, the engine, and the power control systems, huge amounts of coding, with lots of bench testing and development work [on the CX-75].



Automobile Magazine: So those two cars might go in lockstep toward production?

Adrian Hallmark: We wanted to present an innovative, relevant performance powertrain for the future. Anybody can make a car look beautiful….not quite as well as [Jaguar design director] Ian Callum can….but to have something with that design appeal, and that technical substance, for us was important, to get Jaguar back into consideration as a modern, technically driven, innovative, engineering-led company that can design the most beautiful cars in the world.

Automobile Magazine: So when the C-X16 goes on sale, it could start with a conventional powertrain, and is more likely to have a conventional powertrain?

Adrian Hallmark: Absolutely. But this hybrid powertrain is totally feasible, but not as quickly as the car could be built.

Ralf Speth: I think it will change Jaguar the brand itself. For me, Jaguar is a sport oriented brand and company. Thinking back to the 50s, when Jaguar was first in the market with disc brakes, and the E-type. This DNA of Jaguar can best be shown in a sports car.

Andy Goss: It’s not going to drive massive volume, but it drives our image. It’s totally credible from a style and design perspective; people can see that it is clearly a Jaguar. So it provides a very young image which will provide a halo. From the U.S. perspective, it’s absolutely important that we make a very strong business case for the car.

Source: Automobile Magazine