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Jaguar Land Rover is going to call itself 'JLR' and spin off brands

Embracing the current popular philosophy that less is more, the executives at Jaguar Land Rover plan to officially rename their company “JLR” and to create a new “house of brands” that will emphasize name equity and refocus its vehicle offerings. In simple terms, the British-based, India-owned company will split into four separate brands: Range Rover, Discovery, Defender and Jaguar. While this shift may appear to be essentially a function of marketing and dealership bookkeeping, the over-arching reason is to give some of the brands more visibility. Details of the plan, which would reconfigure showrooms in Britain into discrete brand footprints, were discussed this week at a presentation by JLR CEO Adrian Mardell. “The reality is Range Rover is a brand and so is Defender,’” said creative officer Gerry McGovern. “Customers say they own a Range Rover. In luxury, you need absolute clarity. Land Rover Range Rover SV Autobiography doesnÂ’t give it. We love Land Rover, but there isn't as much equity as Range Rover, and Defender is increasing massively.”  Underlying the effort is plans to reinvent Jaguar as an electric-only luxury brand, Mardell said that this was “unfinished business” for him since he joined Jaguar 32 years ago. “The Jaguar of 32 years ago is where weÂ’re going back to and the right place for us to be." He further acknowledged that JLR had been “quiet” recently in the face of semiconductor chip shortages, but allowed that that situation was easing at his company.

Lapping Le Mans with 1956's version of a dash cam

Mike Hawthorne and Ivor Bueb won The 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955 driving a Jaguar D-Type. The following year, a few days before the race, a British broadcaster put cameras on Hawthorne's car, hung a mic from a plate on his race suit and had him narrate a lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe.
It is compelling viewing. A new pit complex was built after the massive accident on the front straight in 1955, but this was still a time when crews prepped for the race on roads that were open to the public. Hawthorne's lap includes maneuvers to avoid bicyclists and cars, and gems like letting us know that doing 185 miles per hour down the Mulsanne Straight was where you could "relax a little, recover your energy." Watch him work it like the men of old in the video below.

2016 Jaguar F-Type ups warranty, adds standard equipment

The 2016 Jaguar F-Type is getting all-wheel-drive and an optional six-speed manual gearbox. That, of course, has been the big news surrounding the British brand's stylish two-seat coupe and cabrio since it was announced back in November. For 2016, though, Jag has done a lot more than just update the F-Type's powertrain – it's made life easier for the car's future owners. Jaguar has generously upped the complimentary service period for the 2016 F-Type, going from covering the first service only, to handing out five years or 60,000 miles of free maintenance to owners of the 2016 F-Type. That is, frankly, stupendous. That new plan is paired with an extended warranty, which has been expanded from five years or 50,000 miles to match the new complimentary service period. Coventry has also significantly added to the list of standard equipment for 2016, offering a 770-watt Meridian stereo, SiriusXM satellite radio, a SmartKey, 14-way power seats and on the hardtop models, a glass roof. Again, that's all standard equipment now. S models now get the standard dynamic mode, flat-bottomed wheel and active exhaust system. R models, as we said back in November, get all-wheel drive as standard. Most remarkable about all of this, though, is how little the new standard equipment has impacted the F-Type's price. The manual-trans Coupe matches last year's $65,000 starting price, while adding an eight-speed automatic kicks the price up $1,300. The S Coupe is slightly pricier than last year's $77,000 mid-grade model, starting at $77,300 for the manual and $78,800 for the automatic. The all-wheel-drive S Coupe starts at $84,800. The R, which as we said, enjoys standard all-wheel-drive, is getting the biggest price bump, with the Coupe model going from $99,000 to $103,600. The all-new Jaguar F-Type R Convertible starts at $106,450. Beyond that, if you want an F-Type with a canvas roof, add $3,100 to the prices shown above. So there we have it – a longer warranty, five years of free maintenance more standard equipment and a negligible increase in price. Um, why can't all model year updates be so nice? Check out the press release for more on the updated F-Types from Jag. Related Video: JAGUAR HITS THE GAS PEDAL ON U.S. 2016 F-TYPE LINEUP TO RAISE PRESSURE ON THE COMPETITION ? Jaguar ramps up F-TYPE value advantage by increasing standard equipment and features by $3,550 for F-TYPE to $11,850 for F-TYPE R models.