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Jaguar Land Rover CEO: Wrong Brexit deal will cost thousands of UK jobs

BIRMINGHAM, England — The wrong Brexit deal could cost tens of thousands of jobs, the boss of Britain's biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover warned on Tuesday, saying he had no idea whether his plants would be able to operate after Britain leaves the European Union next year. Ralf Speth also said that the company would not be able to build cars if customs checks meant that the motorway to and from the southern English port of Dover, which is used to transport components, becomes a "car park" due to snarl-ups of people no longer able to move freely among EU countries. Speth made the warning at a conference in Birmingham, central England, speaking shortly before Prime Minister Theresa May, who is battling to have her so-called Chequers Brexit plan accepted by many in her Conservative Party as well as the EU ahead of Britain's departure from the bloc on March 29. "A thousand (jobs were) lost as a result of diesel policy, and those numbers will be counted in the tens of thousands if we do not get the right Brexit deal," warned Speth, referring to redundancies made earlier this year at the firm. "Currently I do not even know if any of our manufacturing facilities in the UK will be able to function on the 30th," he said. The boss of JLR, which built nearly a third of Britain's cars last year, also said long-standing issues around low productivity in Britain could be compounded by a Brexit agreement which made the country less competitive. "It is thousands of pounds cheaper to produce vehicles for instance in Eastern Europe than in Solihull, and what decisions will I be forced to make if Brexit means not merely that costs go up but that we cannot physically build cars on time and on budget in the UK?" he said.Reporting by Costas Pitas

Thieves stole $3.7 million worth of Jaguar Land Rover engines

This past Tuesday was not a good one for Jaguar Land Rover. According to British news source Birmingham Mail, just over $3.7 million worth of engines were stolen from the company's factory in Solihull, England. Reportedly, the thieves drove up to the facility in a stolen semi-truck, found a trailer full of engines, hooked it up, and drove off. The thieves did this twice in one night, with the same truck, and got the first trailer in just six minutes. Perhaps more shocking is that Birmingham Mail reports this is the second time a theft of this type has occurred at the facility. The previous time happened in almost exactly the same way, but the engines taken were valued at just over $1.2 million, and five people were convicted of the crime. Currently, local police are looking for the latest suspects and the engines. The trailers were found, but were empty. We got in touch with a Jaguar representative who provided us the company's official statement: "We can confirm that we are working closely with West Midlands Police to investigate the theft of engines from the Solihull manufacturing plant. A reward is on offer to anyone who has information which leads to the successful recovery of these engines. It would be inappropriate for us to make any further comment whilst this investigation is ongoing." This was the only statement he would provide, and didn't provide answers as to what engines were stolen and if there would be any impact on manufacturing or vehicle deliveries. But if you're in the UK, and you've got a tip, let the cops know. Related Video: Related Gallery 2017 Jaguar F-Pace View 46 Photos News Source: Birmingham Mail, JaguarImage Credit: Jaguar Plants/Manufacturing Weird Car News Jaguar Land Rover Luxury jaguar land rover

Land Rover Defender V8 vs. Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 | V8 4x4s square off on paper

Land Rover pulled the sheet off its 2022 Defender on Wednesday, introducing another high-performance V8 to the off-road segment. This time, it's a 5.0-liter, supercharged V8 boasting 518 horsepower. It will be available in both the Defender 90 and 110 models. In the former, Land Rover says it can crack off a 0-60 run in just 4.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 149 mph. The long-wheelbase 110 will be a bit slower, but "slow" probably isn't the right adjective to use here at all.  But Land Rover isn't the only automaker offering a high-performance variant of its off-road SUV. While Jeep may have been sneered at for presenting the 2021 Wrangler Rubicon 392 on the heels of the 2021 Ford Bronco's introduction, it starts to make a lot more sense in this context. There's reportedly a high-output Bronco on the way, too, so call Jeep the dinosaur of the group all you want, but you can't put a price on being first. Well, you can, actually, but that's not the point.  Thankfully, both Land Rover and Jeep have provided enough specs for us to rough out a comparison chart. Since the Rubicon 392 is offered only in four-door guise, we're looking at the long-wheelbase Defender 110 as its direct competitor here. Have a look: There are a few caveats to mention off the top. For starters, we don't have an official curb weight for the V8-powered Defender yet, as Land Rover has not finalized its U.S. specs. We used the European figures (as provided by a spokesperson), which we expect to be accurate within about 50 pounds. The 0-60 time provided by Land Rover was for the Defender 90, which is smaller and somewhat lighter than the 110. When equipped with the inline-6, the Defender 110 is about a tenth of a second slower to 60 than the Defender 90, so we figure it should be roughly the same for the V8.  While the Defender has nearly 50 horsepower on the Wrangler, that advantage disappears thanks to the Land Rover V8's monster weight penalty, which will fall somewhere between 600 and 700 pounds depending on equipment. Yikes. On the flip side, however, the Land Rover has the edge in top speed, and it's not even close. Chalk that up to the tires, we suspect. We know for a fact that the Rubicon 392's all-terrains dictate its speed limiter; Jeep's own engineers told us as much. This could make for a (hypothetically) interesting drag race, as the Jeep's advantage off the line may evaporate once triple digits come into play.