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European automakers gear up for Brazilian production

Brazil is the place to be, apparently. Toyota has been investing in the South American country, as has BMW, which announced a $261 million investment in October 2012, on the heels of an Audi factory announcement in San José Chiapa. The high-end immigration is only set to continue, as Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar-Land Rover have both announced plans to set up manufacturing operations there.
Mercedes is the big news here, as its new facility will see the German manufacturer invest 170-million euros for production of its next-generation C-Class and upcoming GLA-Class. "Brazil is an important future market. With our local production we accept the challenge and take on the competition," noted Andreas Renschler, Management Board member for Production and Procurement at Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans. Production is expected to begin by 2016.
Jaguar-Land Rover, meanwhile, isn't so concrete in its plans. The news of its investment in South America comes from a job posting for a plant quality manager in Brazil that was picked up by the UK's AutoCar. "Portuguese language skills will be definite advantage" for interested candidates, according to the job listing. The want ad follows on the heels of remarks by Jaguar Land Rover's Dr. Ralph Speth, who said there are "very intensive discussions" with Brazil's government. Unlike Mercedes, there's no mention of which vehicles will be produced in South America, although AutoCar thinks the Freelander, sold in the US as the LR2, is a leading contender.

2014 Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake is one hot hauler

Oh look, another super-hot wagon that won't be making its way to the US. Awesome.
Actually, in all honesty, it really is awesome. Meet the Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake, a red-hot (or blue-hot?) version of the rakish XF wagon that originally bowed at the Geneva Motor Show back in 2012. The formula here is pretty much plug-and-play: take the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 from the XFR-S and shove it in the wagon body, and add all of the necessary visual flair fitting of a properly powerful Jag. The end result is an estate that packs 542 horsepower, 502 pound-feet of torque, and the ability to sprint to 60 miles per hour in a scant 4.6 seconds. Meow.
This Jaguar joins a growing segment of ultra-hot wagons in Europe, rounded out by offerings like the Audi RS6 Avant and the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG longroof - the latter of which you can actually buy in North America. Sounds like the sort of comparison test we'd love to facilitate. Guess we'll have to leave that to our friends at Autocar, though.

Jaguar builds F-Type to support Tour de France team [w/video]

The Tour de France is typically a two-wheeled affair, dominated by cyclists yearning to capture the prestigious yellow jersey. While the 2014 event winds its way through Europe, Stage 20 will see an altogether different conveyance wind along the route between Bergerac and Périgueux - the Jaguar F-Type Coupe.
As part of its partnership with the British cyclists of Team Sky, Jag has enlisted its new Special Operations division to build a one-off F-Type Coupe, based on the 550-horsepower, supercharged R model.
SpecOps has removed the rear glass and come up with a creative solution to mount a pair of Team Sky's racing cycles in the back. Aside from that upgrade, the cabin boasts new upholstery in the colors of Team Sky's traditional livery. A separate power supply has been established below the bikes in what's left of the trunk, which provides juice for a set of radios and microphones, so that the team's director can communicate with the riders.