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Land Rover could build a baby Defender on a platform sourced from BMW

The collaboration between BMW and Jaguar-Land Rover started out small, it was originally limited to motors for electric cars, but it might not stay that way for long. The Tata-owned British sister companies will allegedly rummage through Munich's sizable parts bin to build nearly half a dozen cars scheduled to come out during the 2020s. According to a report by British magazine Autocar, Jaguar has started designing two small cars that will join its growing family of Pace-badged soft-roaders. They'll be new additions to the firm's portfolio, not replacements for existing cars. One will be a regular crossover, while the other will be a swoopier, form-over-function four-door model ostensibly marketed as a coupe. Both will slot at the very bottom of the Jaguar portfolio, below the already pretty small E-Pace, in a growing market segment where the competition is fierce, and profit margins are thinner than an i3's tires. Here's where BMW apparently comes in. Instead of developing a platform from scratch, the two crossovers could ride on the hybrid-ready, front-wheel drive FAAR architecture found under the third-generation 1 Series hatchback and the upcoming 2 Series Gran Coupe. If we believe an earlier report claiming Jaguar and BMW will also share engines, most of the hardware found under the sheet metal will have German genes. All-wheel drive will certainly be available, and it could also come from BMW. The same platform -- and, presumably, the same engines -- would provide the basis for a Land Rover-badged model positioned in the same segment. Autocar learned it will be to the next-generation Defender (pictured) what the Mercedes-Benz GLB is to the G-Class. Some key design cues will carry over, but the two models will share absolutely nothing under the sheet metal. The soft-roader could resurrect the Freelander nameplate when it goes on sale during the 2020s. Looking even further ahead, the front-wheel-drive platform the next Mini Countryman and X1 will utilize could find its way under the replacements for the next Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport. These plans could very well change; the Evoque and the Disco Sport barely entered their second generation, so they're not due for a replacement until the second half of the coming decade. While neither company has confirmed or denied the report, the partnership makes sense from a business standpoint.

Jaguar Land Rover building new Special Vehicle Operations facility

It's only been a couple of months since Jaguar Land Rover announced the formation of its new Special Operations division, and we've already seen a number of vehicles to come out of it. But now the British automaker has announced a new facility that will house its elite skunkworks department.
Set to be built at Prologis Park in Ryton, England, on the outskirts of Coventry, the new Special Vehicle Operations Technical Centre will encompass dedicated production lines, F1-style flexible workshops, a dedicated paint studio and VIP suite for commissioning bespoke projects. JLR will spend some $33 million on the facility that will be home to 150 specialists - 100 of them being new hires.
The first project which the Special Operations division is working on is the F-Type Project 7, but we've already seen more projects in the pipeline - including the upcoming Range Rover Sport SVR - and you can bet there'll be more. The revival of the Lightweight E-Type also falls under Special Operations, but is undertaken by the Jaguar Heritage department located nearby at Browns Lane.

Jaguar Land Rover to skip 2016 Detroit Auto Show

Jaguar Land Rover won't attend the 2016 Detroit Auto Show in January because the automaker will shift its focus to other international shows instead, the company confirmed to Autoblog. "Following a review of our global consumer engagement program, the decision has been made not to exhibit at the Detroit show in 2016," said a company spokesperson told Autoblog. The story was first reported by Automotive News. JLR will continue to attend other US auto shows in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles; plus those abroad in Geneva, Frankfurt, Paris, Beijing, and Shanghai. "We recognize that the Detroit show is a world-class Tier 1 auto show, however, we have had to make this decision to sharpen our focus as indicated," the spokesperson said. Detroit Auto Show PR Manager Max Muncey told Autoblog that the organizers already knew JLR wouldn't be there. "We are in discussions with other automakers to fill that spot," he said about using the open space. The show expects 70 percent of the floor plan in 2016 to be different from last year. The automaker used the 2015 Detroit Auto Show to announce diesel versions for several models, and it revealed the name for the Jaguar F-Pace there. JLR reportedly now has a plan to cut the equivalent of $6.8 billion in costs without firing workers and increase production to a million annual deliveries by the end of the decade. Related Video: