Tag Archives: Land Rover

Jaguar Ranks Second Best In Terms Of Vehicle Appeal, Range Rover Evoque Is The Most Appealing


A study conducted by J D Power and Associates has revealed that Jaguar stands in the second position amongst the various nameplates in terms of vehicle appeal while the Range Rover Evoque rules as the most appealing vehicle in the Entry Premium Crossover SUV segment, for the second consecutive year. The 2012 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APPEAL) Study, revealed on 25th July, 2012 in Mahwah, USA, ranked the cars after a study of 34 brands in the industry.

The study assessed the extent to which a new vehicle is rewarding and the experience of owning and driving, based on feedbacks from owners and a study of more than 80 vehicle attributes. The study has taken up a unique approach to assess the customer satisfaction, covering each aspect of the vehicle, providing an invaluable guide to influence future product launches. The study is based on feedbacks received between February-May 2012 from more than 74,000 vehicle owners and users of new 2012 model year cars and trucks who were surveyed after the first 90 days of ownership.

Andy Goss, President of Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC commented, “The J.D. Power and Associates APEAL study simply indicates how much your customers like their vehicles’ design, performance and features, and clearly our customers are quite smitten”. He added, “Jaguar Land Rover is dedicated, as a premium automotive company, to providing the customers of both our brands with quality vehicles that deliver extraordinary performance, innovative technology, and desirable styling.”

Ruling as the second most improved nameplate, the Jaguar XJ scored 901 points, being one of only three models in the industry to score above 900. Jaguar also qualified in the second most improved brand in the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Initial Quality Study (IQS). The study has revealed that the Land Rover, ruling in the sixth position (in a tie) amongst 34 brands, is held in high esteem by the customers due to its superior design and fuel economy. Leading in the Land Rover lineup, the new Range Rover Evoque has scored the highest amongst the other Entry Premium Crossover SUVs. The Evoque has bagged the 102nd global award and has been appreciated as a potent combination of class with performance and for its dynamic and agile handling across all terrains.

Jaguar Land Rover North America LLC, founded in 1922 in the United Kingdom, is one of the premier manufacturers of luxury sedans and sports cars since 1948. Jaguar manufactures all its cars exclusively in the United Kingdom at the Castle Bromwich manufacturing plant in the British Midlands. Land Rover and Range Rover business employ 16,000 people in the UK including 3,500 engineers at two product development centers and have global sales in excess of 2,40,000 units. The two models are built at the plants of the company at Solihull and Halewood, United Kingdom. Land Rover exports to 169 countries while Jaguar exports to 63 countries.

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BMW India sees competition from JLR

Jaguar-in-india
There was a time, not too long ago, when Jaguar and Land Rover brands were considered a liability and Ford Motors was desperate to do away with the two iconic British brands.

When no other car manufacturers wanted the loss making brands in their kitty, Tata Motors jumped the bus and bought the car brands. Even then, there were a lot of skeptics who were watching the Indian company’s moves. Tata Motors had already thought of its own international presence through these brands and just in a matter of couple of years after buying the brands from Ford Motors, turned Jaguar and Land Rover brands into a money spinning yarn.

Circa 2011, Tata Motors owned Jaguar Land Rover has come out with more and more customer tempting models. The Richie rich of the world who had earlier pledged their loyalty to the German luxury carmakers are making a beeline in front of the Jaguar Land Rover showrooms.

This presence of the erstwhile loss making car brands in India had made the big Germans to get back to the drawing boards to come out with more feature spruced new car models. In a way, the big Germans who had no real competition in the car world have now started to feel the heat from an Indian car manufacturer run British marques.

In a recent event, BMW India President Andreas Schaaf referring to JLR said, “It would be wrong if I say it’s not a competition. It’s certainly a competition.”
However, Mr Schaaf, when asked by the reporters present in the event if Tata Motors had a better dealer network compared to BMW in India, stated, “I would not agree with your statement that they (Tata Motors) have a better network.”

Tata Motors is a winner in every sense as its new found fame of being a player in the luxury car segment in India through JLR is very much appreciated and assembling the British marquee in India will give an advantage to Tata Motors to compete with other luxury car rivals. JLR, in the years to come will have more demand in the market compared to other brands.

posted by carazooblog @ Thursday, June 9th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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Land Rover reveals its FIRST FULLY CAPABLE 4WD PLUG-IN DIESEL HYBRID

Range_rover_range_e_diesel_electric_hybrid_0
Land Rover’s on-going commitment to building vehicles that is more fuel and emissions-efficient reaches another milestone at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show with the first presentation of the Range_e. This development model is equipped with an advanced plug-in hybrid diesel-electric powertrain that Land Rover expects to make available in future production models, following the scheduled launch of its diesel-electric hybrid in 2013.

Range_e is based on the Range Rover Sport and uses the current 245 bhp 3.0-litre TDV6 diesel engine, working with an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and a 69kW electric motor. Using a parallel hybrid system, with a 14.2kW/h lithium-ion battery that can be recharged from an external 240V power source, Range_e can be driven on electric power alone for more than 20 miles (32km), with zero harmful tailpipe emissions.

A full recharge from a standard domestic power supply can be accomplished in around four hours. Typically the majority of European car drivers cover less than 25 miles (40km) a day and therefore the EV range offered by this technology will support the majority of short urban journeys, where fuel economy and emissions are of prime concern. However, for longer journeys the diesel hybrid drivetrain will engage and continually optimise CO2 emissions.

range_e_electric_hybrid_range_rover_sport-side front

Overall CO2 emissions are just 89g/km, yet Range_e has a maximum system output of 339PS and a top speed of around 120mph (193kph), delivering a fuel economy of 85mpg (3.36 l/100km). Improved fuel efficiency from the hybrid system makes 690 miles (1,112km) possible on a full tank of fuel.

Range_e is also engineered with the same full 4WD capability as the standard Range Rover Sport, with high and low range in the transmission, front and rear differentials and a mechanical locking centre differential. Dependant on the driver demand, the car’s intelligent system decides the most efficient method to deliver the power required, whether this is by electric, diesel or both. The Range_e also features regenerative braking to capture energy usually wasted in heat energy via the brakes. This energy can then be redeployed to drive the vehicle, further reducing fossil fuel consumption.

John Edwards, Land Rover global brand director, said: “This system is the first example of a premium plug-in hybrid that also provides the full four-wheel-drive capability that you would expect from a Land Rover. It is an evolution of the production intent diesel-electric hybrid technology which will be launched in our next generation of SUVs and will be available for customers within the next two years.”

The Range_e is one of a number of Land Rover projects supported by the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board and five prototype models are currently engaged in a test programme with Land Rover’s fellow members of the CABLED – Coventry and Birmingham Low Emissions Demonstrators – consortium. Land Rover anticipates its plug-in hybrid system will be brought to market in the near future, following on from the debut of its first standard diesel-electric hybrid models from 2013.

7d279_Range-Rover-Range_side rear

Pete Richings, chief engineer hybrids, said: “We started the Range_e fleet trial in December 2010 and we have so far covered 12,000 miles on the trial between the five test vehicles. We are gathering invaluable real world data that will enable us to refine the technology ahead of introducing a production vehicle.”
Land Rover continues to recognise the need to work on all aspects of our CO2 footprint such as reducing weight, reducing mechanical losses and increasing powertrain efficiency and our hybrid technology represents one part of the research and development journey.

Jaguar Land Rover is committed to spending £800 million on environmental technologies and has targeted a 25 per cent reduction in its fleet average CO2 emissions between 2008 and 2012.

posted by carazooblog @ Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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Tata Motors ventures into motorsport with “Tata Motors Full Throttle”

Tata Logo on car
Tata Motors, the Indian automotive giant, which owns super brands such as Land Rover and Jaguar, now has announced its foray into the world of racing by launching the “Tata Motors Full Throttle”. Indian automakers like Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Volkwagen India and a few more already have their own racing units, while most of the car makers around the globe are involved in motorsports, which again is the best way to promote the brand.

It must be recalled that Tata Motors had earlier participated in several non-competitive international rallies such as the London Capetown rally in 1998, ASEAN rally in 2005 and the SAARC rally in 2007 with the Safari sports utility vehicle. Both the Safari and Xenon cars, a 4×4 lifestyle pickup, have also been driven in various rallies in the past by independent participants.

Tata Safari rally

Tata Motors, as part of this new initiative, will field a team of two Tata Safaris and two Xenon XT cars to participate in the forthcoming ‘Desert Storm Rally’, beginning on February 22 from Ahmedabad. After this, the team from Tata group will later on participate in other motorsports events in India such as the ‘Raid De Himalayas‘ in their quest to become a regular on the racing circuit.

“With best in class technologies in our product range, we will now be able to showcase these technologies through Tata Motors’ ‘Full Throttle’. The platform will help the company in organising and synergising all efforts and activities in the area of motorsports including development and testing,” said R Ramakrishnan, vice president, Commercial Passenger Car Business Unit, Tata Motors.

“The participants from Tata Motors in the Desert Storm Rally are all experienced drivers with enough experience of racing in India behind them. We are confident of a good show in the rally as well as other racing events to be organised later,” Ramakrishnan added.

“Our participation will also help in better understanding the capabilities of our products (cars) on display. At the same time, our purpose to get involved with the motorsport events in the country will also be fulfilled,” said S G Saxena, Head, Utility Vehicles, Tata Motors.

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It is a good decision by Tata Motors to get into motor racing activities, as a lot of technology that will be used in the racing circuits can be imbibed in the production cars.

posted by carazooblog @ Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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Jaguar Land Rover combo wins more than 80 awards in 2010

landrover-discovery-4
Jaguar Land Rover, the British brands now owned by Tata Motors is on a roll. The brands have created a sort of record by winning over 80 international awards in 2010. Land Rover’s Discovery 4 won about 28 awards globally in 2010 taking the awards toll to 144 since its inception in 2004.

“The Discovery 4 offers an exceptional breadth of capability. It is now one of the most highly-decorated vehicles ever and we are thrilled that it continues to receive such great recognition across the industry”, exclaimed Mr John Edwards, Brand Director of Land Rover who was more than elated at the grand success of the Discovery 4.

As if the above-mentioned award count was not enough for Land Rover, the readers of UK version of Autocar magazine also voted Range Rover as the “Car of the Decade”. In the same poll, Range Rover Sport also shone out bright by laying claims to the winner of Best 4X4 category and Freelander 3 bagged the “Best Compact SUV” award.

2010_jaguar_xj

Jaguar with its all- new super cool sedan, the Jaguar XJ also pitched in the awards galore winning the best design award along with 20 other international trophies including Best Luxury Car award in countries like China, UK, Germany, Italy and US.

Tata Motors, since they took over these twin British brands in 2008 from Ford Motors, have revived the brands and has made them a winning combo from the erstwhile loss making liability.

posted by carazooblog @ Tuesday, December 28th, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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Jaguar planning crossover SUV

jaguar_logo_XF
Jaguar which has seen a lot of ups and downs over the years is on a roll now since Tata Motors took over the ailing brand along with Land Rover. Now that Tata is at the helm of affairs, both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands have seen an uphill revival.

After Land Rover came out with its radical yet modern Evoque concept, which has already hit the production lines, it is the turn of Jaguar to do some unthinkable things. It seems like Jaguar is taking the Porsche route to success. After creating cars that has been appreciated and revered by critics and fans alike, Jaguar is now planning to come out with its own SUV. How cool is that?

According to Autocar, Jaguar is considering adding an SUV model to its lineup and the model may soon get the green light for production. The news gets wings in the form of a comment that was quoted in the British car magazine. Jaguar’s new global brand Chief Adrian Hallmark in an interview with Autocar had said, “We need a crossover and we need to stop being a saloon-based [sedan] company.”

Hallmark also said that the company needed to develop all-wheel drive saloon/sedans in order to appeal to more consumers, particularly in the regions of the East Coast in America and parts of Europe.

The Jaguar boss added that the British automaker would be building lightweight vehicles, hinting at the use of aluminum in the construction of Jaguar models. Hallmark said that lightweight cars would be part of the company’s “future DNA.”

jaguar-suv_rendering

He also confirmed that an XF wagon/estate model was coming soon too, one that will account for a fifth of XF sales.

Now Jaguar, bring it on… we are waiting in line for your future products. Currently Jaguar retails XF and XFR sedans and XKR coupe and convertibles in India.

posted by carazooblog @ Thursday, December 23rd, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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Jaguar and Land Rover sales drive Tata’s profits

TATA Logo
Tata Motors Ltd on Tuesday said that quarterly profit soared, topping forecasts, on robust sales in its home market.

Riding on the improved demand for its Jaguar and Land Rover brands, Tata Motors has seen its profits soar. Tata Motors, India’s largest truck and bus maker, reported a consolidated net profit of 22.23 billion rupees ($502 million) for the fiscal second quarter ended September 30, from 220 million rupees in the year-ago quarter. Sales in India climbed by 35% in the quarter, but it experienced even bigger growth in China and Russia.

Tata Motors, whose products include utility vehicles, cars and the ultra-cheap Tata Nano, is seeing a surge in demand within the country amid rapid economic growth, while its British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover have also seen strong sales in Europe.

Since its inception to the Indian market in March 2009, around 70,000 Nanos have been sold. The world’s cheapest car with a price tag of 1 lakh plus is one of the important products of the Tata conglomorate.

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Last month Tata reversed a decision to close one of its manufacturing plants in the UK because of the pick-up in sales. On the contrary, Tata Motors is also planning to hire new workers in Britain to counter with the surge in demand for cars from its Jaguar and Land Rover division. JLR brands was bought in 2008 from Ford by the Indian giant.

India is one of the world’s fastest growing car markets with home-grown vehicle makers, as well as those which have teamed up with foreign partners, benefiting from the country’s rapid economic growth. Shares in Tata Motors, valued at about $15 billion, have surged 60 percent so far this year, compared with a near-20 percent rise in the main index and a 39 percent gain in the sector index.

posted by carazooblog @ Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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JLR Launches Armoured Vehicles Range at Rs 4.75 Crore

Land-Rover-DiscoveryTata owned British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover have launched armoured SUV models in India. JLR has launched armoured variants of Range Rover and Discovery models, priced at Rs. 4.74 crore and Rs. 3.75 crore respectively. Later the company also plans to bring the armoured version of Jaguar Sentinel XJ in the Indian market. The stunning Jaguar Sentinel XJ was a showstopper at the 2010 Moscow Auto Show and will be soon launched in India with an expected price of Rs. 5 crore.

“The armoured vehicles market is a very niche segment and we don’t want to leave it out. We are launching these vehicles in India so that we have the complete range of offerings here,” said Rohit Suri, head of Tata Motors’ Premier Car Division. The global market of armoured vehicles is pretty sizeable with annual sales of 15,000 units, but the Indian market for armoured vehicles is in its infancy. “We have just started exploring the market, we know there is some potential but it will be too premature to put a number on how many armoured vehicles we intend to sell in India,” Suri said.

JLR luxury brand is currently expanding its presence in India and will open up at least 8-9 dealers in the country including cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi and Kolkata. The British brand will take help of parent company Tata Motors for assistance in areas like logistics and service support.

“With expansion of our network and products, we will gain further volumes here,” he said. The company is in the process of ramping up dealerships in India, apart from looking at local assembly of some of the Land Rover models.

“We would be expanding to newer cities and this should give us a wider spread. We are currently present at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Ludhiana and plan to end this fiscal with about eight to nine dealerships.”

The company is also planning to start the local assembly of Land Rover which will lower the price of the product and give it a very competitive edge. The local assembly is likely to start next year. According to reliable sources, Tata Motors will assemble the Freelander 2 in India, which is currently the lowest-priced Land Rover model here and has an ex-showroom price tag of Rs 33.5 lakh in Delhi. Local assembly will see the cumulative duties on the model going down by around 50%, bringing down its cost by a few lakh of rupees.

posted by carazooblog @ Monday, October 25th, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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The Story of the New Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

1976 Landrover
Ever heard of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? There’s a musical fantasy movie of the name Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which features a magical car of the same name. Here’s the story of how Caractacus Potts, a failed inventor who lives in a big house with his two children and peculiar father, created the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Potts does all he can to raise 30 shillings in order to buy the broken-down racing car from the junkyard for his children. He tries selling his invention of whistling sweets to the local candy maker, Lord Scrumptious, but in vain. He then manages to collect enough money for the car by doing a Dick Van Dyke dance routine at the county fair.

Potts happily buys the car and miraculously transforms the vehicle into a shiny new car named Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He then goes on a picnic with his children and Truly Scrumptious, the candy maker’s beautiful daughter. Potts fabricates a fantasy tale about the magical powers of the car, which could now float on water and fly.

That’s a movie after all, which you may think, can never happen in reality. Would you go to that extent to fulfil your children’s wish? Well, here’s a man who has done it. Lily, the daughter of Mr Wallis, 52, of Ringwood, Hants, watched the classic film and challenged her dad to make a similar one. That’s how the man started working on the project at his New Forest Metal Works business.

Stuart Wallis had to dismantle the 34-year old, completely rundown Land Rover down to its chassis, engine and wheels. Wallis spent 3 whole months, thousands of pounds and loads of hard work before finally succeeding in transforming the 1976 car into his own version of the famous flying car.

The creator of the magical car finally took pride of place at yesterday’s local carnival. Wallis is using the car to raise money for The Cicely Foundation which supports charities including Mosaic which provides bereavement services for children and the Youth Cancer Trust. Hats off, Wallis!

Stuart Wallis wanted the car as perfect as could be and he was aware of a replica of the very same car at the Beaulieu Motor Museum. He visited the museum and clicked several photos of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang replica for the exact measurements and details. Wallis worked hard with six others over the last 3 months transforming the £1,000 Land Rover into a reflection of the world famous car.

Stuart Wallis's Land Rover turned into a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang replica car

Mr Wallis said, “My kids have always enjoyed the film so I thought ‘why not’? I knew there was a good replica of the original at the Beaulieu Motor Museum so l computerised images of it to ensure ours was as accurate as possible. The children all helped with the building of the car so they were all aware of how it was progressing but now it is finished I don’t think they can quite believe it.”

Today, the Wallis version of the movie car features a 1,000 watt amplifier under the bonnet and loud speakers that resounds hits from the musical. It also features eight sets of air horns that can mimic animal noises and police sirens. Wallis’ creation turns out to be unbelievable. It even has the red and yellow wings that the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang had on its sides. This replica, however, couldn’t fly like the original.

posted by carazooblog @ Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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Land Rover Set Out to Set Up a Manufacturing Base in China

LR4-JPEG
Land Rover is having a ball of a time in China. A subsidiary of the Indian Tata Motors, Land Rover, had set foot into the world’s largest vehicle producing country back in 2003. At the time, Land Rover enjoyed annual sales of just 23 units. Now, sales numbers in just the first half of 2010, have jumped to as high as 10,983 units; a 135 per cent surge over the corresponding period last year.

In India, Land Rover sells the Discovery 4, Freelander 2 and Range Rover. Land Rover has found the maximum number of owners for its cars in the UK and USA and the Chinese market now stands third. The car maker now wants to settle down in China. Its sales have dramatically surged over the past two years and producing vehicles within the country will certainly bring down costs, further translating into greater sales. We hear that Land Rover is in talks with two companies within China to produce vehicles for the Chinese.

Land Rover wants to have a manufacturing base in China. Earlier during the year, there were rumours that the car maker was looking at entering China with Tata Motors’ Carl-Peter Forster later confirming the same. As of now, we hear that Land Rover is in talks with Chery Auto, and a much smaller company named Tianjin Tian Qi Group.

CEO of Chery Auto had earlier said that the company was not interested in working in a joint venture partnership with foreign car companies. Chery was independently sketching out its route to growth. Will the new offer alter Chery’s decisions? We feel the car maker will give in to the irresistible temptation of joining hands with the successful Land Rover. On the other hand, Tianjian Tian Qi Automotive Group is a small company located in the city of Tianjin and is a small scale manufacturer of low-cost multi-purpose vehicles and sports utility vehicles for the Chinese market.

Once all is set, we hear that Land Rover is looking at producing nearly 40,000 vehicles in its first year of operation in China. It will then check the feasibility of introducing its better half. If all’s well after a year, Land Rover’s partner company, Jaguar would also enter the Chinese market.

The Tianjin Government, on the other hand, is very keen about the talks and is offering full support to Tian Qi Auto in the talks. Tian Qi Auto is a state-owned company and its sales have been shrinking in the past few years. It is said that the Tianjin Government may offer substantial subsidies to Land Rover if it enters into a partnership with the troubled Tian Qi Auto.

posted by carazooblog @ Thursday, September 16th, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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