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Jaguar says F-Type sales off to flying start

As we noted in our recent first drive, Jaguar's luscious new F-Type roadster is a bit of a tweener in both size and cost, lining up in between rival Porsche's Boxster and 911. That one-for-two-segment strategy is showing early signs of paying off, with Automotive News reporting that half of the car's 2014 production allotment is already sold. We're not talking huge numbers - sports cars in this segment only "have a global annual volume of about 75,000 units and a market share of 0.1 percent," notes Jaguar brand director Adrian Hallmark. Yet the company figures the F-Type will work out to about 15 to 20 percent of its total volume of around 60,000 units.
From where we sit, this is all very encouraging news, but it's way too early to call the F-Type a smash hit. The sports car segment is known for its fickleness and its front-loaded sales curve, so the real measure of success will be how it fares over the next few years after early adopters get their cars. Jaguar will have to work to keep the F-Type fresh with new variants, and we hear it's prepared to do just that. The British luxury marque hasn't confirmed a hardtop coupe variant yet, but patent images and spy shots suggest one is on the way shortly, and it ought to extend the model's appeal greatly. A four-cylinder option and a manual transmission have also been rumored, and presumably Jaguar will eventually launch higher-performance R and R-S variants as it has done with various model lines, including its other sporty two door, the XK grand tourer.

Jaguar Land Rover to cut thousands of UK jobs

LONDON — Britain's biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to cut thousands of jobs as the company faces lower demand in China and a slump in sales of diesel cars in Europe. The central English firm builds a higher proportion of its cars in Britain than any other major or medium-sized carmaker and has also spent millions of pounds preparing for Brexit, in case there are tariffs or customs checks. Britain's business minister Greg Clark said on Thursday it is clear why a no-deal Brexit would add to the problems with further costs and disruption. JLR lost 354 million pounds ($450 million) between April and September 2018 and had already cut around 1,000 roles in Britain, shut its Solihull plant for two weeks and announced a three-day week at its Castle Bromwich site. Its Chief Executive Ralf Speth warned in September that the wrong Brexit deal could cost tens of thousands of car jobs and posed a threat to production at the automaker. The Tata Motors-owned company, which employs around 40,000 people in Britain and has boosted its workforce at new plants in China and Slovakia in recent years, unveiled plans to cut costs and improve cash flows by 2.5 billion pounds last year including "reducing employment costs and employment levels." Those cuts will be "substantial" and run into the thousands, the source told Reuters. "The announcement on job losses will be substantial, affecting managerial, research, sales, design," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, not affecting production-line staff "at this stage." The company declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Thursday. Ford also said on Thursday it will cut thousands of jobs in Europe, exit unprofitable markets and discontinue loss-making vehicle lines as part of a turnaround effort aimed at improving profit margins in the region. Brexit warnings JLR, which became Britain's biggest carmaker in 2016, had been on course to build around 1 million vehicles by the turn of the decade, reported on Thursday a 4.6 percent drop in full-year sales to just under 600,000 vehicles. Demand in China, which had once been one of its strongest countries but has since been hit by a slowdown, fell by 21.6 percent, the biggest drop of any of its markets. "The economic slowdown in China along with ongoing trade tensions is continuing to influence consumer confidence," said Jaguar Land Rover Chief Commercial Officer Felix Brautigam.

David Brown Speedback GT marks US debut at The Quail

The British invasion has officially deployed another expeditionary force to these American shores with the arrival of the David Brown Speedback GT. The classically styled English grand tourer debuted nearly a year and a half ago, and has been racking up orders from discerning customers in the UK and across continental Europe. As promised, it has now made its American debut at the swanky Monterey event known as The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. The Speedback GT is a coachbuilt grand touring coupe made by British startup David Brown Automotive. It's based on a Jaguar XKR, but reskinned inside and out to give it the look and feel of a classic Aston Martin – little wonder given the name it shares with the former Aston chief whose initials still adorn the DB model line. Underneath the retro bodywork lies Jaguar's celebrated 5.0-titer supercharged V8, giving the Speedback thoroughly modern levels of muscle with 510 horsepower and 461 pound-feet of torque. The resulting 0-60 time of 4.6 seconds and top speed of 155 miles per hour are suitably quick – not quite time-warping, but the performance is certainly nowhere near as old-school as the design would lead you to believe. Call it the best of both worlds, then, if you dig the styling. But don't expect everyone to be jumping on this particular gentlemanly bandwagon. At nearly half a million pounds sterling – over $750k at current exchange rates – it's sure to keep out the riffraff of which "the rest of us" are most certainly part. Featured Gallery David Brown Speedback GT: Monterey 2015 View 14 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Misc. Auto Shows Jaguar Coupe Luxury Pebble Beach david brown automotive