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Geely poaches Jaguar designer Wayne Burgess

The fact is simple: Chinese automaker Geely just poached designer Wayne Burgess from Jaguar. Burgess will oversee a team of 100 designers and staff, in charge of projects encompassing all of Geely's brands, and report to Peter Horbury, Geely's EVP of design. Burgess, who started at Jaguar in 1997, was lately the production studio director for Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations, and the head of Jaguar's production cars. His credits include the F-Type, F-Pace, I-Pace, and current XJ, as well as being an Ian Callum stand-in at events. The implications of this personnel move carry the easy-to-ignore weight of another domino falling in what could be a monumental Chinese long game. Geely owns an eponymous car brand in China, as well the Chinese-Swedish Lynk & Co, Sweden's Volvo, England's Lotus and London Electric Vehicle Company (makers of electric black cabs), Malaysia's Proton, and U.S. flying car startup Terrafugia. Burgess won't need to leave home, because Geely's opening a design center in Coventry, England, to go along with its other centers in Barcelona, Gothenburg, Los Angeles and Shanghai. If you're keeping track, Burgess' flight maintains the quickening pace of talent headed to Chinese automakers that we give scant attention. After Geely bought Volvo in 2010, it moved longtime Volvo designer Peter Horbury, now Burgess' boss, to Shanghai. At the time, the news evoked a chortle. Compare that to last week, when GAC Motor designer David Hilton said, "There are now more auto designers in Shanghai than in any other city in the world, including Detroit and L.A." Hilton, by the way, was Bentley's head of exterior design until September last year. The same month, ex-Rolls Royce pen Giles Taylor, who brought us the Cullinan, jetted to Munich to lead FAW's Hongqi luxury brand. One month before that, ex- Land Rover designer Phil Simmons had taken over at Great Wall brand Haval. One month after that, ex- Mazda and BMW designer Kevin Rice became VP of design at Chery. Ex- Audi man Wolfgang Egger took over at BYD in 2017. Oh yeah, Hilton's comments came in a Wall Street Journal article about this very migration. Mass distribution is nearing the developed world in the Northern Hemisphere, too. Lynk & Co wants to get its papers for Europe this year. Zotye just named its first batch of U.S. dealers in advance of a planned launch here in 2020. Guangzhou Auto was at the same U.S. dealer meetings at Zotye, aiming for a U.S. rollout in early 2020.

Jaguar Land Rover building new R&D center for hybrids, EVs, autonomous cars

The success of Jaguar Land Rover in recent years has largely been down to a resurgent product lineup, but a recent move into the research and development will see the British-based, Indian-owned brands take the fight to its German rivals more aggressively than ever before.
JLR is investing 50 million pounds ($80,345,000, as of this writing) in a joint R&D center in central England. The move will more than triple its staff dedicated to research, from 150 to 500, with Wolfgang Epple, JLR's Director of Research and Technology telling Automotive News Europe, "In order to play among the big animals in automotive and to be anchored in the mind of customers you have to have offered something unique, to be first in market. We want to be one of the key premier automotive manufacturers."
Jaguar Land Rover's 50-million-pound contribution represents more than half of the 94-million-pound tab, on the so-called National Automotive Innovation Campus. Based at Warwick University, Tata's European Technical Center, Warwick Manufacturing Group and the Higher Education Funding Council, an agency of the British government, are all chipping in for the facility.

Lister says it'll tune F-Pace SVR into the world's fastest SUV

The Jaguar F-Pace SVR is fast. Blisteringly fast. With its 550-horsepower, five-liter V8 it will hit 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds and go on to 176 mph. That sounds like the perfect blank canvas for Jaguar outfitter Lister, doesn't it? Known for its Jaguar-based race cars and road-going specials, Lister has built some legendary cars in its time. Now, accompanied by the teaser image the company's account tweeted yesterday, Lister says it'll build the world's fastest SUV out of the F-Pace SVR. It'll actually have to be really, really quick, as several sports utility vehicles now hit 60 mph in well under 4 seconds. The Tesla Model X P100D does that in 2.9 seconds with Ludicrous Mode selected, thanks to its electric grunt. On the fossil fuel side of things, there's the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, which relies on the 707hp Hellcat V8 to reach 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. That number is matched by the Lamborghini Urus, and another Italian, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio can get to 60 in under 4 seconds. Beat all of those, Lister, and the throne is yours. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Earlier in an Autocar interview, Lister's Lawrence Whittaker claimed the Lister-tuned SVR will have as much as 670 horsepower, a good hike up from the stock vehicle's power figure. Reportedly 250 units will be built. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: Lister Cars Jaguar Crossover SUV jaguar f-pace lister jaguar f-pace svr