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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.

Autoblog Podcast #339

Farewell, Zach Bowman; Pikes Peak 2013; Datsun; 2014 Ram lineup
Episode #339 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and it's the last rodeo for Zach Bowman before he departs for other pastures. The crew this week consists of Dan Roth, Zach Bowman and Jeff Ross, who talk about the astounding records set at this year's Pike's Peak hill climb, the return of the Datsun brand name and the recently-announced 2014 Ram truck lineup. Of course, we start with the garage and end with your questions and comments. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. You can follow along after the jump with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #339:

Jaguar Land Rover to cut workforce by 2,000 in push toward electric future

Jaguar Land Rover said on Wednesday it would cut 2,000 jobs from its global salaried workforce, just days after announcing its luxury Jaguar brand will be entirely electric by 2025 and e-models of its entire lineup will be launched by 2030. "The full review of the Jaguar Land Rover organization is already under way," the company said in an emailed statement. "We anticipate a net reduction of around 2,000 people from our global salaried workforce in the next financial year," it said. However, it added that the organizational review did not impact hourly paid, manufacturing employees. JLR, owned by India's Tata Motors, said earlier that its Land Rover brand will launch six fully electric models over the next five years, with the first in 2024. Known for its iconic, high-performance E-Type model in the 1960s and 1970s, Jaguar faces the same challenges as many other carmakers as it transitions to electric vehicles while trying to retain the feeling and power of a luxury combustion engine model. Last month, Tata Motors said it was concerned by semiconductor shortages and Brexit-related supply disruptions as its luxury car sales recover, although the Indian automaker added these had not yet hit production. Tata Motors posted three straight quarters of losses as the COVID-19 crisis dented sales, exacerbating uncertainties over Britain's exit from the European Union, weak demand and rising costs, but had bounced back to clock a profit in its third quarter to the end of December. The 2,000 reduction in JLR's non-factory jobs was reported earlier on Wednesday by Sky News.