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Jaguar has something special planned for Goodwood

It's been barely a week since JLR announced its new Special Operations division, dedicated to creating limited-run halo cars and custom creations for both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. Now the British automaker has confirmed the debut of the division's first project.
We don't know what it is, exactly, that Jaguar will be bringing to the Goodwood Festival of Speed later this week, but we bet it'll be exciting. If we were the betting kind, we'd put our money on some kind of hot-rod F-Type, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Alongside whatever JLR Special Operations has got cooking, Coventry will also be bringing the new F-Type R Coupe and XFR-S Sportbrake to run up the hill alongside a whole slew of classic and racing Jaguars, including a pair of D-Types, a Group 44 E-Type, a Group A XJS and the reunion of XJR-9 and Andy Wallace that last saw each other on the top step of the podium at Le Mans in 1988.

Which is hotter, Lana Del Rey or the Jaguar F-Type?

Lana Del Rey's "Burning Desire" video, the first musical collaboration between Jaguar and its hired songstress, is half music video, half long-form lifestyle commercial for the 2014 F-Type. If you like Del Rey channeling glamorous fifties fame as she lays down vocals of sensuous, languid dolor over images of black-and-white yesteryears, you'll like this song off of her new EP, Paradise.
We think the appearance of a red and brand-new Jaguar, though, is incongruous - either Del Rey or Jaguar is the anachronism, take your pic. That's not to say it's not beautiful, however, so enjoy the combination in the video below.

Porsche tops J.D. Power quality index as Korean brands soar

While complaints about infotainment systems remain a thorn in the side of automakers for J.D. Power's annual Initial Quality Study, there's a lot to celebrate this year. The average number of problems reported per 100 vehicles fell to 112 in 2015 – a three-percent improvement compared to 116 in 2014. The results of this year's survey are based on the responses of over 84,000 people about problems within the first 90 days of buying or leasing a 2015 model-year vehicle. For the third consecutive year, Porsche tops the rankings with an average of 80 problems per 100 vehicles. Although, that's slightly more than the 74 the German sportscar maker scored in 2014. "While the Japanese automakers continue to make improvements, we're seeing other brands, most notably Korean makes, really accelerating the rate of improvement," Renee Stephens, vice president of US automotive quality at J.D. Power, said in the study's release. In fact, Kia ranks as one of the biggest movers in this year's list. The Korean brand jumped to second place from seventh last year. The company had an average of 86 problems per 100 vehicles, a 20-point improvement. Third place went to Jaguar with an average of 93 problems reported, versus last year's second-place finish with 87 of them. Fourth place was Hyundai, and fifth-place Infiniti also earned a gold star for improvement with 97 issues per 100 vehicles – 31-points better than last year. Fiat still anchored the bottom of the list. However, its 161 problems this year is a lot better than the 206 in 2014. Ranked by nationality, Korean brands (Hyundai and Kia) are now leading the industry in initial quality with an average of 90 problems reported per 100 vehicles. According to J.D. Power, this is the first time Europe's figure beat Japan with 113 and 114 issues, respectively. The American brands also averaged 114. Whereas General Motors dominated last year, the segment awards are spread out in 2015. GM, Hyundai, Nissan, and Volkswagen Group are all tied with four models each earning prizes. For more information, you can also see all of the graphs, here. J.D.