2008 Range Rover Hse White on 2040-cars

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Who picks car colors and materials? Designers like Hannah Custance

As automotive journalists, we're often asked "how did you get that job?" People usually didn't even know you could do such a thing. In this 7 Questions series, we're highlighting other jobs in the automotive industry that you might not have heard about before. What do they do, how'd they get to do it and other questions about their particular corner of the car world. Slowly but surely, the automotive landscape is becoming more colorful. Look beyond the unrelentingly conservative palette of white, black and gray most buyers opt for and you'll see the increased use of exterior trim types beyond the usual chrome. There's gloss black, of course, but also other metallic finishes like gold or copper. Those can be found inside, too, where there's also an increase in colorful leathers and trims, innovative fabrics, new wood types and finishes, and greater creativity in general. So where is this change coming from? The answer is designers like Hannah Custance, the color and materials design manager for Jaguar Land Rover. Her team's latest effort is also its magnum opus, the 2022 Range Rover. Although saddled with the expectations that comes with one of the automotive industry's classic nameplates, the all-new Range Rover is also a celebration of cutting edge manufacturing and fashion-forward materials selection. We sat down with Hannah at the L.A. Auto Show to find out more about color and materials designers, how she ended up in the industry, and advice she might have for young designers out there. It has been condensed for brevity. Autoblog: What does a color and materials design manager to do?Hannah Custance: I basically look after a team of designers who design finishes for every A surface on the car. So, that could be exterior finishes. It could be interior trim materials, soft materials, hard materials, chromes, metals, woods, ceramic – that's one of the new ones – anything you can kind of touch and see is color material design. Autoblog: How early in the design process does your team become involved.Hannah: Right at the very start. In fact, we look at materials that don't have a product assigned to them or a car assigned to them. So, it takes actually a very long time for us to get materials approved and fully validated. We have to find suppliers that are willing to work in automotive and our test standards are incredibly high, some of the highest in the industry.

Land Rover will downsize with a pair of hybridized turbodiesel sixes

Europe's automotive industry has ground to a halt, but the strict emissions regulations that went into effect in early 2020 are still looming on the horizon. Land Rover is preparing to launch a pair of hybridized turbodiesel six-cylinder engines in a bid to comply with the regulations and avoid paying huge fines, according to a recent report. British magazine Autocar learned Land Rover has applied the mild hybrid technology already offered on the Evoque and the Discovery Sport, its two smallest models, to a 3.0-liter straight-six to obtain 300 horsepower. The company will also release a more powerful version of the six rated at about 350 horses. The former will be available on HSE, HSE Dynamic and Autobiography Dynamic variants of the Range Rover Sport, while the latter will be added to upmarket models like the HST. The full-size Range Rover (pictured) will get them, too. The sixes represent a two-pronged approach to replacing the 4.4-liter turbodiesel V8 available in Europe, among other markets. It delivers 335 horsepower and 546 pound-feet of torque, and it sends the Range Rover from zero to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds while giving it a 7,700-pound towing capacity. These figures are hard to argue against, but it's an older engine that's increasing the company's fleet-wide average emissions output, so it has to go. The mild hybrid system won't power either Range Rover on electricity alone, but it will make them cleaner and more efficient; losing a pair of cylinders will help in both areas, too. Although Land Rover hasn't confirmed plans to ax the V8 or launch a hybridized six, suppliers have started publishing information about the powertrain, so its launch is believed to be around the corner. Time will tell whether it will appear on the current-generation models or their replacements, which are undergoing shakedown testing globally and due out in the coming months. Sister company Jaguar will use the mild hybrid technology, too. The six-cylinder will find its way into the XF and the F-Pace, which are both expected to receive comprehensive updates before the end of 2020. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Talking Land Rover Defender, Ford Bronco and GMC Jimmy | Autoblog Podcast #586

Jaguar crossover won't be based on Evoque or have off-road chops

Jaguar's long-rumored crossover won't be built on the same platform as the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, says the Australian site Car Advice. The future of the new CUV remains uncertain, but if Jaguar does dip its toes into the SUV/crossover pool, though, the new vehicle will likely be a car-based soft roader, lacking (or perhaps more appropriately, not needing) the off-road-engineered chops inherent in Land Rover's small CUV platform.
Jaguar product planner Steven De Ploey explained to Car Advice, "There's many groups around the world [platform sharing] - obviously Volkswagen Group is doing it all the time - but I think we have to be careful. He added, "Jaguar is something quite different... It's about capability, but very much on-road focused capability." That seems to gel with our suspicions that the XQ, as it's expected to be called, will share its platform with an upcoming small Jaguar sedan, the oft-rumored X-Type successor.
Still, we'd recommend taking any mention of a Jaguar crossover with a grain of salt. Based on many of the (quite compelling) statements made by De Ploey against a Jag crossover and previous statements made by Jag's design boss, Ian Callum, the case against a leaper-bearing crossover seems strong. If a high-rider were to arrive from Jaguar, though, the article insinuates that it'd be more in line with the BMW X6 or upcoming X4 - sort of a coupe-based crossover. Like we said, grain of salt. If a Jag crossover is going to arrive soon, the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show is the most likely locale for its debut. We'll find out in a few weeks.