1999 Jaguar Xk8 Convertible 2-door 4.0l, Not Aston Martin Or Maserati on 2040-cars

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Jaguar Land Rover opens first overseas factory in China

Anyone who's a car fan knows that Jaguar and Land Rover cars and trucks all come from the UK. And while we don't doubt that will remain true for the most part, it won't be an absolute truth for long, as the British automaker has just opened its first factory overseas.
Its new plant in Changshu, China, is the result of a $1.8-billion joint venture between JLR and local automaker Chery. It covers some 4.3-million square feet and will, once at peak capacity, produce 130,000 units specifically for the Chinese market, where JLR sells over 100,000 vehicles each year to make it the company's single largest market worldwide.
Production at what's officially known as the Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Company will start with the Evoque, of which one in five globally are currently sold in China. Production will eventually encompass three models. We already know that the Discovery Sport will be next, but the third model line has yet to be announced. JLR has confirmed, however, that the Changshu plant will produce unique models and derivatives specifically for the Chinese market, so we wouldn't be surprised to see a long-wheelbase version of the forthcoming XE or next-generation XF assembled there to satisfy local tastes.

Jaguar calls a hot-rodded I-Pace a when, not an if

Jaguar showed the world what a high-performance I-Pace might look like when it unveiled the racing-ready eTrophy (pictured) in 2017. Though it's built exclusively for track use, the hot-rodded EV is teaching the British firm's Special Vehicles Operation (SVO) division valuable lessons about electrified performance, and those tricks will seep into a street-legal production model in the coming years. Michael van der Sande, the head of SVO, told British magazine Autocar that a high-performance I-Pace is more of a when than an if. Jaguar has amassed decades of sports car-building experience, and it's trying to reinvent itself as a purveyor of electric cars, so combining these two images into one seems natural. We're a little bit surprised it hasn't happened yet, though van der Sande warned the project hasn't started because SVO is busy making other, higher-volume cars with fatter profit margins. The eTrophy uses the same basic powertrain as the I-Pace, according to Autocar, but it receives a long list of chassis modifications that help it handle better than stock. The production model would receive more comprehensive changes, including a more powerful electric powertrain, but its body kit would certainly resemble the one worn by the eTrophy cars. Whether the hotter I-Pace would arrive as a limited-edition model, like the XE Project 8, or as a standard addition to the range is up in the air. Jaguar is aware that venturing into the high-performance electric car segment would force it to lock horns with Tesla, which offers jaw-droppingly quick versions of the Model S and the Model X. The California-based firm is currently planning to attempt a lap record on Germany's Nurburgring track with a triple-motored prototype of a car coming to production in 2020, so Jaguar knows precisely who to beat if it wants to secure ultimate bragging rights in the electric car segment.

2016 Jaguar XF First Drive [w/video]

Jaguar has never had a problem with style or driving joy. Every generation of the British brand's vehicles – with excuses made and accepted in advance for S-Type and X-Type and other outliers – has offered compelling styling and great performance. New kid XF was no exception when it was introduced in 2007. The car's sheetmetal pointed the way forward for the fully up-to-date range we see now, and its confident engines and handling chops were on pace with the best Bimmers, Benzes, and Cadillacs. The first-generation XF made some hay for Jaguar, selling around 280,000 copies through 2014. But those annualized rates still represented a blip on the luxury midsize radar when viewed against the backdrop of the German Three's numbers. Part of that sales story has been down to the E-Classes and 5 Series of the world being consistently excellent, to be sure. But a lot of the blame can be found in Jaguar's historic weak spots. Grace and pace the brand had in spades, but consumer perception of quality and reliability just weren't there, pricing was typically near the top of the class, and the residual values of the cars were low (a combination of all three factors, most likely). Of course, Jag would love to sell a few more cars. But this time, instead of simply building a great-looking, great-driving new XF (which is absolutely the case), the brand is doing some clever non-engineering-based things to put more big cats in more garages than ever before. The tradeoff of very good ride quality is worth the minute amount of roll. After flying all they way to Spain – Pamplona and the Navarra Circuit, by way of Barcelona and a Range Rover adventure you'll hear about soon – I would be remiss not to tell you how the new XF goes down the road. Some 150 kilometers (93 miles) of motorway and challenging b-roads lie between the city with that annual livestock problem and the 2.44-mile, FIA approved racecourse. A route that led me to understand that this XF, in my case the 380-horsepower XF S, has gained more than it has lost in the generational changeover. The company is fully committed to aluminum for its midsizer, with the new car now using a body structure that's 75-percent built from the stuff. I'm told that means a body in white that weighs just over 600 pounds, and an overall weight savings of 11 percent. Body stiffness has been raised by 28 percent in the process.