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Thieves stole $3.7 million worth of Jaguar Land Rover engines

This past Tuesday was not a good one for Jaguar Land Rover. According to British news source Birmingham Mail, just over $3.7 million worth of engines were stolen from the company's factory in Solihull, England. Reportedly, the thieves drove up to the facility in a stolen semi-truck, found a trailer full of engines, hooked it up, and drove off. The thieves did this twice in one night, with the same truck, and got the first trailer in just six minutes. Perhaps more shocking is that Birmingham Mail reports this is the second time a theft of this type has occurred at the facility. The previous time happened in almost exactly the same way, but the engines taken were valued at just over $1.2 million, and five people were convicted of the crime. Currently, local police are looking for the latest suspects and the engines. The trailers were found, but were empty. We got in touch with a Jaguar representative who provided us the company's official statement: "We can confirm that we are working closely with West Midlands Police to investigate the theft of engines from the Solihull manufacturing plant. A reward is on offer to anyone who has information which leads to the successful recovery of these engines. It would be inappropriate for us to make any further comment whilst this investigation is ongoing." This was the only statement he would provide, and didn't provide answers as to what engines were stolen and if there would be any impact on manufacturing or vehicle deliveries. But if you're in the UK, and you've got a tip, let the cops know. Related Video: Related Gallery 2017 Jaguar F-Pace View 46 Photos News Source: Birmingham Mail, JaguarImage Credit: Jaguar Plants/Manufacturing Weird Car News Jaguar Land Rover Luxury jaguar land rover

SVR plans to tune electrified Jaguar-Land Rover models, but not the I-Pace

Jaguar-Land Rover's SVR division has only put its name on high-horsepower gasoline-burning cars, like the XE Project 8 built in strictly limited numbers. It's open to the idea of tuning electrified models, whether they're electric or hybrid, but it confirmed it's not currently planning on making a spicier evolution of the I-Pace. "We will be developing electrified versions of our cars, be that fully electrified or plug-in hybrids," affirmed Michael van der Sande, the division's managing director, in an interview with Auto Express. But although the electric I-Pace (pictured) raced in a one-make race series held on the sidelines of Formula E events for two seasons, and SVR could credibly claim to inject track DNA into a street car, it stressed the I-Pace doesn't appear in its product plans for reasons that remain a little bit murky. Jaguar announced the end of the eTrophy series in May 2020, which might explain why it's reluctant to exploit racing's marketing power. "There are other various things we are working on which we can't talk about, but we're very interested in electrification. That's why we got involved in eTrophy," van der Sande clarified. "The technology transfer, the learning applies to that car and other cars but we're not planning an SVR I-Pace at the moment." His comments confirm we'll need to be patient to see what SVR's take on an electric or hybrid car looks like. One of the first electrified models to receive the go-fast treatment might be the next-generation XJ tentatively scheduled to make its debut before the end of 2020. It will be exclusively electric, though it won't look as radical as the I-Pace, so Jaguar will need to find a way to replace the hot-rodded XJR 575 model it positioned at the top of the last-generation model's line-up. It's not too far-fetched to speculate the next Range Rover also due out in the coming months will receive some degree of electrification, and it could spawn an SVR-tuned model, too. Related Video:    

Jaguar Land Rover opens new $1.6 billion factory in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Jaguar Land Rover is opening a new, $1.6 billion plant in Slovakia, the luxury car maker's first in continental Europe. The U.K.-based company, owned by India's Tata Motors, built the plant near Nitra, about 65 miles east of Bratislava, to initially produce 150,000 cars a year. The Slovak government is giving the carmaker investment subsidies of up to 130 million euros ($148 million). Slovakia is a regional car-making powerhouse. Germany's Volkswagen AG, France's PSA Peugeot Citroen and South Korea's Kia Motors all have a major plant in this Central European country of 5.4 million people. The company said it will shift all production of its Discovery model from Birmingham, England, to Slovakia amid falling diesel sales, vehicle taxes and uncertainty about Britain's Brexit departure from the European Union.Related Video: