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Jaguar Land Rover likely to build US plant... in three years

Jaguar Land Rover may very well open a plant in the United States, but the latest word has it that it'll be another three years or so before the company even makes a decision on the matter. The prospect first came up on our radar back in October when we reported that JLR was considering building a plant in the South. Georgia governor Nathan Deal even flew to the UK to solicit JLR's business. Former parent-company chairman Ratan Tata subsequently confirmed the idea was under consideration last month. And now the British automaker's CEO has told Automotive News that JLR will need a US assembly plant to fuel its growth in the vital North American market, but that'll it'll take a while to get going. The reasons for the delay, according to chief executive Ralf Speth, are threefold. For one thing, the automaker has its hands full at the moment opening plants in other locations: last year it opened one in China and this year it opened one in Brazil. It also recently opened a new SVO facility, an electric-propulsion R&D center and a new engine plant all in the UK, and can only handle building so many new facilities at a time. JLR will also need US suppliers of aluminum components to step up their game, as the company relies heavily on aluminum construction for their vehicles. US automakers shifting to aluminum for models like the new Ford F-150 will encourage American suppliers to get into the game, but it may be a while before they're up to Jaguar Land Rover standards. Finally, JLR will need to increase its sales potential in the US in order to justify local production. Speth says the company would need one model of which it could sell 30,000 to 40,000 units in the US alone, and it sold less than 18,000 units of its best-selling the Range Rover Sport here last year. In fact the entire Jaguar brand sold less than 16,000 units throughout all of last year in America, with Land Rover selling far more at over 50,000 units to contribute to total sales of over 67,000 units. Related Video: Featured Gallery Jaguar Land Rover Engine Manufacturing Center View 16 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Jaguar Land Rover Plants/Manufacturing Jaguar Land Rover jaguar land rover jlr

2013 Jaguar XF 3.0 Supercharged

Generally speaking, I don't get too upset about the growing need to replace displacement in modern cars. Sure, there are exceptions (don't you touch my 6.2-liter AMG V8), but honestly, the industry's new forced induction powertrains are all lovely, and their gains in fuel economy - when they actually make good on them - can make up for the ever-so-slight losses in performance or driving character.
But I'm having a hard time keeping my chin up with this Jaguar XF. For the 2013 model year, Jaguar has killed off the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 and fitted a supercharged 3.0-liter V6 with an eight-speed automatic in its place (and even offers a turbocharged four-cylinder engine below that). That all sounds perfectly well and good, but a week behind the wheel of this British Racing Green sedan just left me missing that V8. And then some.
Driving Notes

Jaguar will build 9 XKSS continuation cars at $1.4m each

The Jaguar D-Type was, for its time, a cutting-edge race car. It was also a car that could, theoretically, drive from Jaguar's Browns Lane factory to the race in France and back. This was an era in which top-tier race cars weren't all that different from their road-going counterparts. You couldn't really do the same in an Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro, now could you? The XKSS was a D-Type with the barest nod to road-going conveniences, like proper wind protection. With some unsold D-Type racers cluttering up the shop after three successive Le Mans wins, Jaguar converted 16 into XKSS spec, and had more in the works. It wasn't a comprehensive transformation, really. A windshield and a passenger door were added; a cabin partition and the striking fin behind the driver were removed. Otherwise, it wasn't much different than the all-conquering Le Mans-winners. And then tragedy struck. A fire destroyed nine of the cars, and the company never picked up where it left off after the mess was cleaned up. Hence Jaguar aficionados, and the company itself, keenly felt the absence of the "lost" cars. After the success of the continuation E-Type lightweights built by the Jaguar Classic division of Special Operations, the company will finish the run. Nine cars will be hand-crafted for a select group of customers and collectors, much as the company did for the lightweights. Jaguar expects the cars to fetch more than $1.5 million each. Considering the mystique of these "lost" cars, and the fact that Steve McQueen is heavily associated with the XKSS, they may trade hands for considerably more after the initial owners part with them. Jaguar expects to start delivering the continuation XKSS cars early next year. Related Video: New York Auto Show Jaguar Convertible Performance Classics jaguar special operations jaguar xkss