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Jaguar design chief Ian Callum rules out station wagons

If you liked the idea of a Jaguar wagon and were secretly hoping that the British automaker might bring one over, we have some unfortunate news for you. Not only will the company not bring any wagons to the North American market, but according to design chief Ian Callum, it won't be making any at all. "The [wagon] market is massively shrinking. I'm very sad about it but it's a very difficult market to justify," Callum told Automotive News Europe. German automakers Audi, BMW, and Mercedes can make wagons work because their home market is the largest for wagons in the world and any wagons they sell elsewhere are just chocolate icing on the Black Forest cake. For its part, Jaguar has produced two wagon models in the X-Type and the previous XF Sportbrake. That's a shame in Jaguar's case, because the XFR-S Sportbrake was a heck of a ride that left us wondering why anyone would want something taller. Those of like mind, we suppose, will just have to content themselves instead with German wagons like the Audi A6 Allroad, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes E-Class, and Volkswagen Golf SportWagen – and hope that Volvo doesn't get squeezed out of the wagon market as well. Related Video:

Jaguar Land Rover likely to build US plant... in three years

Jaguar Land Rover may very well open a plant in the United States, but the latest word has it that it'll be another three years or so before the company even makes a decision on the matter. The prospect first came up on our radar back in October when we reported that JLR was considering building a plant in the South. Georgia governor Nathan Deal even flew to the UK to solicit JLR's business. Former parent-company chairman Ratan Tata subsequently confirmed the idea was under consideration last month. And now the British automaker's CEO has told Automotive News that JLR will need a US assembly plant to fuel its growth in the vital North American market, but that'll it'll take a while to get going. The reasons for the delay, according to chief executive Ralf Speth, are threefold. For one thing, the automaker has its hands full at the moment opening plants in other locations: last year it opened one in China and this year it opened one in Brazil. It also recently opened a new SVO facility, an electric-propulsion R&D center and a new engine plant all in the UK, and can only handle building so many new facilities at a time. JLR will also need US suppliers of aluminum components to step up their game, as the company relies heavily on aluminum construction for their vehicles. US automakers shifting to aluminum for models like the new Ford F-150 will encourage American suppliers to get into the game, but it may be a while before they're up to Jaguar Land Rover standards. Finally, JLR will need to increase its sales potential in the US in order to justify local production. Speth says the company would need one model of which it could sell 30,000 to 40,000 units in the US alone, and it sold less than 18,000 units of its best-selling the Range Rover Sport here last year. In fact the entire Jaguar brand sold less than 16,000 units throughout all of last year in America, with Land Rover selling far more at over 50,000 units to contribute to total sales of over 67,000 units. Related Video: Featured Gallery Jaguar Land Rover Engine Manufacturing Center View 16 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Jaguar Land Rover Plants/Manufacturing Jaguar Land Rover jaguar land rover jlr

Regulators consider adding more carmakers to Takata recall

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal has been getting a lot of press recently, but the Takata airbag inflator affair could be grabbing headlines again soon. According to Bloomberg, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is contemplating an expansion to the campaign that could add seven automakers to the 12 already affected. They are Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Spartan Motors, Suzuki, Tesla, Volvo Trucks, and VW Group. To be clear, there's no recall for any of these automakers, yet. The government is simply asking for a full list of vehicles that each of them have with Takata-supplied inflators containing ammonium nitrate propellant. The agency is concerned this substance could play a roll in the ruptures. "NHTSA is considering not only whether to issue an administrative order that would coordinate the remedy programs associated with the current Takata recalls, but also whether such an order should include expansion of the current recalls," the letters say. All seven can be viewed, here. From a report supplied by Takata, the government already knows that the company supplied 887,055 inflators with ammonium-nitrate propellant to VW and 184,926 of them to Tesla. In an incident during the summer, a side airbag allegedly burst in a 2015 VW Tiguan. In early September, NHTSA put out a revised report that there were 23.4 million inflators to be replaced in 19.2 million vehicles in the US. An earlier accounting from the agency had about 34 million of the parts in 30 million cars. High humidity is still believed to be among the biggest risk factors for the ruptures. Although, if ammonium nitrate also gets the blame, some already recalled models might need to be repaired again. Related Video: