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Jaguar opens new engine plant in the UK

The heads of Jaguar Land Rover are having a busy couple of weeks opening factories. Just days after inaugurating the company's first overseas plant in China, the automaker's new Engine Manufacturing Center in the UK is being inaugurated, as well. The plant near Wolverhampton, England, marks the first time in decades that JLR is building its own powerplants in-house. Further signaling the importance of this launch for the business, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were on hand and even tweeted about it.
The factory's first major project is to build JLR's latest Ingenium four-cylinders, starting with the 2.0-liter diesel version. "Our new Engine Manufacturing Centre is an important step in advancing the competitiveness and capability of the UK automotive sector. The production of in-house engines will support the expansion of the UK supply chain providing critical mass for inward investment," said Trevor Leeks, plant operations director in the automaker's announcement.
Opening the doors to the Engine Manufacturing Center has been years in the making for JLR. The plant was first announced in September 2011 and broke ground in June 2012. Building it cost the company 500 million pounds ($800 million) and created 1,400 new jobs. Of course, being a state-of-the-art factory, considerations were made to make the place as energy efficient as possible. That meant installing the UK's largest solar array with 21,000 panels to produce about 30 percent of the site's electricity needs.

Jaguar-Land Rover will use recycled waste to make parts for future models

Jaguar-Land Rover's future models will be partially made of junk. The company announced it's working on integrating a recycled material named Econyl into its manufacturing process in the coming years. Created in 2011 by Italy-based Aquafil, Econyl is a fiber made with a blend of recycled industrial plastics, fabric offcuts sourced from clothing manufacturers, and discarded fishing nets aimlessly floating around the ocean. It's more eco-friendly to produce than oil-based fibers, according to Jaguar, and it helps clean up the planet. Jaguar and Land Rover will use Econyl to make floor mats in the not-too-distant future. Neither company listed the models they'll put the material in, but it's reasonable to assume recycled floor mats will be available in the next-generation XJ, which will be electric, and the next-generation Range Rover. Both will be released in 2021. Eco-friendly materials are slowly but surely spreading across the luxury car segment. Jaguar already offers the I-Pace with a Kvadrat upholstery that combines regular wool and up to 53 recycled plastic bottles per car. Audi's fourth-generation A3 is optionally available with an upholstery made largely using recycled plastic bottles, and Volvo estimates at least 25% of the plastics in its cars will be recycled starting in 2025. Environmentalist organizations are putting an increasing amount of pressure on carmakers to deliver so-called vegan interiors. A group called EarthSight recently accused several companies (including Jaguar-Land Rover and BMW) of using leather from cattle raised on illegally logged lands in Paraguay. Representatives for the British company stressed they found no evidence to verify EarthSight's claims. Related Video:

U.S. issues new tariff threat, this time against British-built cars

WASHINGTON — Britain is the United States' closest ally but their long friendship may be sorely tested as the two countries try to forge a new trade agreement after Britain's exit from the European Union. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday in London that he was optimistic that a bilateral deal with Britain could be reached as soon as this year. But Mnuchin gave up no ground after a second meeting with his UK counterpart, Sajid Javid. Javid has insisted that Britain will proceed with a unilateral digital services tax, despite a U.S. threat to levy retaliatory tariffs on British-made autos. Mnuchin told reporters after Saturday's meeting that such taxes would discriminate against big U.S. tech companies like Alphabet Inc's Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. The UK Treasury declined to comment on the private meeting. The divide highlights the challenges ahead as the Trump administration seeks a new bilateral agreement with Britain, part of a broader push to rebalance relations with nearly all its major trading partners. The stakes are high — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pegged the trade deal with United States as a way to ease the pain of breaking with Europe, Britain's largest trade partner. U.S. President Donald Trump, has promised a "massive" trade deal to support Brexit, the product of a populist movement similar to his "America First" agenda. The goodwill and special relationship the two countries have enjoyed for decades may not count for much, experts say. "Trump is not going to be doing Johnson any favors," said Amanda Sloat, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington. "He's not going to give him a trade deal without major concessions." Even before the digital tax issue arose, the Trump administration threatened to tax foreign car imports, which could hit British-made Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini, and Honda Civic hatchback cars. Stiff U.S. trade demands include increased access for U.S. farm goods, concessions that will be difficult for Britain's entrenched natural food culture to swallow. The United States also wants Britain to change the way its National Health Service prices drugs and allow in more U.S. pharmaceuticals, which could prove politically unpopular for Johnson's government. Washington's demand that London block Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for national security reasons could also cloud talks.