2002 Jaguar X-type Sport Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Jaguar Land Rover undergoes $3.2 billion turnaround plan as sales slump

MUMBAI — India's Tata Motors on Wednesday announced a turnaround plan for its luxury car unit Jaguar Land Rover, which has been hit hard by trade tensions between China and the U.S., low demand for diesel cars in Europe and worries over Brexit. Under "Project Charge," Tata Motors said it plans to cut costs and improve cash flows at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) by 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) over 18 months. JLR also plans to launch several new vehicles, including the Jaguar I-Pace and the new Range Rover Defender over the next few years and will offer a hybrid or full-electric version of all its models by 2020. "Together with our ongoing product offensive and calibrated investment plans, these efforts will lay the foundations for long-term sustainable growth," JLR CEO Ralf Speth said after Tata Motors reported a quarterly loss. JLR has trimmed its pre-tax profit expectations for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, and expects to break even, Speth said, versus an earlier target of profit growth. As part of the turnaround plan, JLR will first focus on cash-saving "quick wins" like reducing non-product investments and speeding up asset sales, Tata Motors said in an investor presentation. In the near term it will improve efficiency in areas including purchasing and material cost, manufacturing, logistics and people, and will focus on strategic and non-core asset sales. JLR has already reduced the number of production days at its UK plants in Castle Bromwich and Solihull. The company said in its presentation it has saved 300 million pounds since it initiated the turnaround plan six weeks ago and is working on 500 ideas for the future. Tata Motors reported a loss of 10.49 billion rupees ($141.9 million) for the July-September quarter, compared with a profit of 24.83 billion rupees in the year-ago period. That was worse than the estimate of a loss of 2.40 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data. JLR reported a loss of 101 million pounds during the quarter and its margin on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 130 basis points to 9.9 percent. Retail sales of its Jaguar sedans and Land Rover sport utility vehicles (SUVs) fell 13.2 percent to about 130,000 units, hurt particularly by tariff changes in China and escalating trade tensions. Demand in China remained muted even after the country cut import tariffs for cars and car parts to 15 percent for most vehicles from 25 percent from July.

Xcar weighs in on the five best-sounding modern cars

Getting behind the wheel of a well-balanced vehicle can be a wonderfully visceral experience, thanks to the combined feeling of things like the weight of the steering, the bite of the brakes, and, of course, the roar of the engine. Unfortunately, many of the sensations of driving require actually being in the driver's seat to understand them, but thankfully the intoxicating noise of a beautifully tuned internal combustion engine can be shared with everyone. In a new video, Xcar shares their opinion on the five best-sounding modern performance cars. The list is a symphony of horsepower. As opposed to keeping all of the vehicles brand new, Xcar actually picks a few that are recently off the market. They're all definitely champs, though. While the list itself is well stocked, you might be able to argue with the specific order, and it would be nice to hear a few participants from outside of Europe for a collection like this one, too. No matter. Every listener is sure to find something they like in the bunch, though. Turn up the volume and enjoy.

Jaguar fully reveals the $71,445 XF S Sportbrake

Jaguar has finally revealed the 2018 XF Sportbrake without any sort of camouflage or subterfuge. It does look pretty much the way we expected, though; an XF with a longer, but still low and sleek roof. That's a good thing in our book. That nice, long roof also allows for an impressive 31.7 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, which we should point out is just a bit more than the far less attractive BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo revealed yesterday. The Jaguar XF Sportbrake also comes with plenty of performance since it's only available with all-wheel drive and the supercharged 3.0-liter V6 that produces 380 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. Jaguar claims this powertrain will get the wagon to 60 mph in 5.3 seconds. Jaguar also includes self-leveling rear suspension on the Sportbrake. Inside, you'll find the same interior as the XF sedan, with one key difference: a vast, fixed sunroof. Though it's a bit disappointing that it doesn't open, the unbroken view of the outside is beautiful. But if you don't like the view, you can close a sun blind over it, and you don't have to touch a button. You simply wave your hand past a sensor and it will open or close. Though novel, we can see many incidents of accidentally opening or closing it while reaching for, say, the overhead map lights. The Jaguar activity key wristband is also available, along with large screens for instruments and infotainment. The sun blind gesture controls, activity key, and additional screens seem to be options though, as they aren't included on the base S model that starts at $71,445. That's nearly a $3,600 upcharge over the sedan. However, you do get a gorgeous car with more space. It's also barely more expensive than that aforementioned BMW. If you do want those fancy tech options, you can option them in, or have them added as part of the First Edition Sportbrake, which starts at $73,095. Related Video: