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Jaguar likely moving HQ to Britain's most iconic racetrack

Jaguar Land Rover looks increasingly likely to make Britain's iconic Silverstone race track the automaker's new headquarters. There isn't a final deal in place yet, but the British Racing Drivers' Club, which owns the circuit, plans to have the membership vote on whether the negotiations should move forward, according to Autosport. BRDC leaders already presented the plan to members, and they were open to the idea. "The response was favorable so we will now set up an EGM for the members to vote and give the board a mandate to proceed with the deal and continue with the negotiations with JLR," BRDC president Derek Warwick told Autosport. There's no guarantee yet that JLR actually completes the deal. "There's still a lot of work to do to get the deal to where both sides are happy and more importantly what's right for the BRDC and its members." Warwick said. Rumors in early December suggested JLR was among the firms submitting bids to purchase the track, and the automaker allegedly offered 22.7 million pounds ($34.1 million at the time) for it. The company would also reportedly invest nearly $80 million to renovate the site, including adding a museum, experience center, hotel, and offices. The track would still be open for motorsport, too. Silverstone has hosted the Formula One British Grand Prix many times over the decades, and organizers signed a 17-year deal in 2009 to keep things that way well into the future. Series like the FIA World Endurance Championship, MotoGP, and British Touring Car Championship also compete there. Related Video:

Jaguar C-X17 rides high into Frankfurt

After enviously watching its competitors rake in piles of crossover-shaped dollars for years, Jaguar is poised to get into the game with a production model based on this C-X17 concept. While the British brand hasn't officially confirmed it will sell a utility vehicle - indeed, brand fans and industry watchers have wondered whether the Leaping Cat even need to get into the game considering its corporate cousins at Land Rover - we would be dumbfounded if it didn't happen in short order.
We've always been concerned that Jaguar's styling language wouldn't translate well to a high-riding shape, but here at its Frankfurt Motor Show debut, the C-X17 comes off as quite handsome (if predictable) in the metal. The same couldn't always be said of Jag's styling DNA, but newer models beginning with the XF and the XJ have introduced design elements like a larger, more vertical grille that suit the C-X17's form factor exceedingly well. Even the rear end successfully borrows its taillamp design from the glorious new F-Type Roadster.
Underneath the concept's two-box shape is a new aluminum unibody that Jag says it is poised to employ on its next-generation models, including the long-expected midsize sedan coming to North America in 2016. Jaguar has long been a leader in aluminum chassis development even as it has struggled to take weight out of some of its vehicles (the F-Type, for instance, isn't exactly lightweight). Thus far, Jaguar isn't talking powertrains other than to say it will employ a new generation of gas and diesel engines.

Jaguar CEO says people just don't want EVs right now

"Customers are not impressed with it currently." These are the words of one Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, spoke at the Automotive News Europe Congress in Birmingham, England. The "it" Speth is referring to is battery technology, which he characterized as "too heavy, too expensive," and with power density that's "too low." That all could go some way towards explaining why the British automaker has yet to bring an electric vehicle to market, why it killed the C-X75 hybrid-turbine supercar project, and why it only recently started offering hybrid versions of its Range Rover models (and has yet to offer them in the United States). That doesn't mean the company won't pursue electric propulsion in the future, though. According to Automotive News Europe, Speth forecasts that "the next generation of batteries will be higher density, lower weight and the cost will come down." What he didn't say, exactly, is when he expects that next generation of battery tech to come around – or when JLR will start to more closely embrace electric propulsion. In the meantime, Jaguar Land Rover will continue investing in research and development. Since Tata acquired the brands from Ford seven years ago, JLR has quadrupled its R&D budget and doubled the number of engineers on staff. Related Video: