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A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

Jaguars and Land Rovers to feature in 007's Spectre

James Bond may be more closely associated with Aston Martin, but Jaguars and Land Rovers have featured in 007 movies new and old. Skyfall, the most recent installment in the series, opened with Bond and Moneypenny ripping through the streets of Istanbul in a Defender and saw M being chauffeured around London in an XJ. And the upcoming feature Spectre is set to feature some of JLR's finest as well. While Bond himself will be piloting the new Aston Martin DB10, the movie will also feature a Jag and a couple of Landies. The Jaguar C-X75 concept, as we know, will be part of a chase scene against the DB10, now revealed to be set in Rome. But the movie will also include the new Range Rover Sport SVR (with what looks like some auxiliary lighting) and at least two Defenders modified by JLR Special Operations to "Big Foot" specifications with 37-inch off-road tires, upgraded suspensions and added bodywork protection. As you may recall, a couple of months ago a fleet of nine vehicles used in the film were stolen from a garage in Dusseldorf, including five Range Rover Sports. This is the first confirmation we're seeing of any of them being SVR models, or of the Big Foot Defenders being part of the mix as well. The scenes including the Land Rovers have already been filmed in Austria, and we're looking forward to seeing them all on the silver screen come November. Related Video: JAGUAR AND LAND ROVER ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP WITH SPECTRE, THE 24TH JAMES BOND ADVENTURE - Continuing Jaguar Land Rover's successful involvement with the Bond franchise, Jaguar C-X75, Range Rover Sport SVRandLand Rover Defender Big Foot to feature in new James Bond movie, SPECTRE - C-X75 concept vehicles will form part of spectacular chase scene in Rome Monday 9 Feb 2015 12:01 GMT: Jaguar Land Rover has announced its line-up of vehicles set to feature in SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond adventure, from Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. These will include the Jaguar C-X75, Range Rover Sport SVR and Defender Big Foot, which have been provided by Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations. The Jaguar C-X75 will feature in a spectacular car chase sequence through Rome alongside the Aston Martin DB10. The C-X75 vehicles used in filming have been built in collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering facility in Oxfordshire, England.

Jaguar Land Rover UK factories could shut down in two weeks due to coronavirus

COVENTRY, England — Jaguar Land Rover has enough parts from China to maintain its British production for the next two weeks but not beyond that at the moment, Chief Executive Ralf Speth said on Tuesday. Britain's biggest carmaker, which operate three car factories in its home market, joined major global companies such as Apple in warning of the impact of the virus on supply chains. The rapidly spreading virus has killed nearly 1,900 in China and stricken some 72,000 people, confining millions to their homes, disrupting supply chains and delaying reopening of factories after the extended Lunar New Year holiday break. "We are safe for this week and we are safe for next week and in the third week we have... parts missing," said Speth when asking about the potential impact on British production. He said the firm's Chinese factory would open next week and was "safe for the very first week." Sales were not currently happening in China and it was unclear when they would return, he added. The boss of Tata Motors, JLR's parent company, speaking at the same event, said the company does not have sufficient visibility regarding parts suppliers from China. "We are safe for the month of February and for a good part of March," said Guenter Butschek. "Are we fully covered at this point of time for the full month of March? Unfortunately...not." Related Video: