Indian Car Blog - Carazoo.com

The adage “Born from the Jets” might be the slogan of the recently saved from death Swedish Saab car company, but guess what, the above mentioned adage will be more appropriate for the British car maker Jaguar.

We have a reason for that. Jaguar has been awarded funding from the U.K government to develop a small jet turbine as a range extender for a future hybrid Jaguar luxury car.

In stating the Jaguar luxury car, we mean the newly launched 2011 Jaguar XJ full-sized luxury sedan. This car which could get an extended-range electric model in its portfolio in a couple of years might also provide a platform for the innovative jet-powered range extender.

Yes, we call this innovative as the jet-powered turbine technology though was first developed by Rover Cars which developed JET1, the first-ever jet-powered turbine car, is one of the predecessor companies of Jaguar Land Rover, now owned by India's Tata Motors. So the technology fits the Jaguar cars to the T.

Rover Cars’ JET1 which is currently housed in London’s Science Museum, ran on petrol, diesel or kerosene and sped up to 88 miles per hour. This car also spawned a Le Mans racer developed with BRM Formula One that averaged more than 100 mph and topped out at 142 mph.

The cars that run on turbine technology is smaller, lighter and emits less CO2 which should be a welcome news for the green warriors. The British government awarded $1.8 million in development funds to develop the turbine-based range extender for electric vehicles to a consortium of Jaguar-Land Rover, Bladon Jets, and SR Drives. The highlights of the modern micro-turbine technology is that it saves more than 200 pounds over a petrol engine for onboard power generation to recharge an electric car’s battery pack, while slightly reducing CO2 emissions. The Bladon Jets turbine has just 5 percent of the weight and parts count of a typical four-cylinder engine.

There are a few drawbacks which come imbibed with this technology as it is not so good for direct drive. As Chrysler learned a decade later, when it released 56 prototypes of its elegant Chrysler Turbine coupe for real-world tests by roughly 200 drivers, turbine technology proved too inefficient and expensive for production-car use.

Chrysler's test cars suffered from throttle lag, lack of low-end torque, very high exhaust temperatures, and mediocre fuel economy (17 mpg) from their 97-kilowatt (130-horsepower) turbine engines, which powered the car through a standard automatic transmission.


Turbines also aren't particularly suited to the rapid acceleration cycles of varied driving. Using a turbine as a steady-speed source to generate electric power, on the other hand, lets it operate most efficiently and at close to its maximum output.

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Italian car giant Fiat does not need an Asian partner to compete with its rivals.

Of late, many European car makers are tying up with Asian car makers to grab a bigger share in the world car market. But Fiat says it has no need to find an Asian partner to match recent tie-ups by European competitors with Japanese car makers.

Fiat has already bought a 20 per cent stake in Chrysler and the company feels that this tie-up is sufficient for them. Otherwise, the company might choke trying to shallow too much what it can actually intake.

Asian car makers have secured several deals recently with other car manufactures. It is just last week ago when Volkswagen agreed to buy 20 per cent stake of Suzuki Motor Corporation for $2.5 billion. This has been followed by Monday’s announcement that Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC) has bought some Saab assets.

Fiat is building a plant in China with Guangzhou Automobile, China's sixth-largest auto producer and has a joint venture with India’s Tata Motors. Fiat aims to go to China with the Jeep and its deal with Chrysler “is also aimed at Eastern markets.”

Fiat also revealed that its sporty Alfa Romeo marque was not for sale under any circumstances, after a recent analyst report suggested it could be bought by Volkswagen.

Fiat would be able to significantly increase output in its native land as the government has requested during negotiations over the car maker’s future strategy and the government's commitment to incentives for trading in old vehicles.

Fiat also said Chrysler will allow the car maker to cover market segments the company is not present in till date. Moreover, it expects to shift production of around 270,000 Panda cars from its overworked factory in Poland, either to the southern Italian Pomigliano plant or to Mirafiori, near its home base of Turin in the north-east.

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Chrysler under GM when filed for bankruptcy, on April 30, 2009, did not have many hopes for a brighter future. But when Chrysler thought everything was down and out, Fiat pitched in and Chrysler was able to strike a deal with Fiat, which made Fiat the joint owner of Chrysler.

This will in future be a very profitable business for both the companies, a give and take policy. By joining hands with Chrysler, Fiat has gained an easy access to the American automobile market and Chrysler has had the benefit of learning new technologies from Fiat, which will help it to make more new-generation cars than ever in the near future.

But it appeared to be a tough journey for Chrysler and Fiat when the sale was delayed by the Supreme Court following an appeal by the consumer groups, Indiana pension and construction funds, and others to stop the transaction.

But luckily everything started falling into place when Supreme Court cleared the path for the deal and Chrysler sold its assets to Fiat group SpA. Chrysler, with this sale, has been freed from the clutches of bankruptcy.

Chrysler has never gone through a similar situation. Even though Chrysler was on the verge of filing a bankruptcy more than once, it has never happened during its 80 years of business.

This plight of the company is mainly due to its inability to think in a contemporary fashion. Chrysler failed to bring out new looks and technology in its cars, it was stuck with the long gone design and features. This didn’t impress the car buyers who were flooded with plenty of options to choose from. This brought down the sale of the company and this finally ended up in the filing of bankruptcy.

Now with a new lease of life being imparted to Chrysler, It should come out with innovative car designs and features that could charm the car buyers to Chrysler’s showrooms.

Chrysler is a big name for America and now with the US government supporting the Chrysler-Fiat partnership, Chrysler should regain its lost glory. But even months after Chrysler joined hands with Fiat, there are not many clear cut plans announced by both the companies. But let’s hope a real come back from this master carmaker.

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