2000 Jaguar S-type Base Sedan 4-door 4.0l on 2040-cars

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GM, Audi, Jaguar halt Russian sales amidst ruble's collapse

The value of Russia's ruble currency has sunk like a stone tossed in the Volga for much of the year, losing over 40 percent of its worth since June. The change is having bizarre effects on the auto industry there and leaving some automakers scrambling to adjust. According to Bloomberg, Russians are buying up luxury goods including automobiles at the moment to have a physical investment in case the ruble sinks further. However, with the money worth so little, the companies aren't making much from these transactions. Things are so dire that several automakers are temporarily ending deliveries until the situation stabilizes. According to Bloomberg, General Motors stopped sales on December 16 with no set date to start again. Audi did the same thing but with the intention to resume once it has adjusted model pricing. Jaguar Land Rover terminated business until December 19 to see how things changed. Toyota is increasing its pricing, as well, but keeping business open at the same time. Some automakers have subtly been reacting to the slumping Russian auto market all year. The moves have included Volkswagen cutting production by 30,000 units from its factory in Kaluga. Ford also got rid of 950 workers from two plants due to low demand. Some analysts have even speculated that the contracting industry and possibility of lower import duties into the country could cause companies to end their manufacturing in Russia completely.

'New' continuation Jaguar XKSS to debut in November in LA

Jaguar announced on Tuesday two important debuts for Jaguar Classic's continuation models, the Lightweight Jaguar E-Type and the new XKSS. In November, the Jaguar XKSS continuation model will make its debut in California to coincide with this year's LA Auto Show. The company revealed the plan to build nine of these cars a few months ago in order to complete the original production run. That run began in 1957 when Jaguar began building road legal versions of unsold D-Type race cars. However, production stopped short when a fire at the Browns Lane factory destroyed the remaining cars. Jaguar explained that the company will use what they learned from developing the Lightweight E-Type continuation series, and Jaguar Classic employees will build these XKSS models to the original specifications. If you had your heart set on ordering one to fulfill your Steve McQueen fantasy, you're out of luck. All nine have already been sold. View 46 Photos In addition to the XKSS public reveal, the 2015 Jaguar Lightweight E-Type will soon make its competition debut. The car in particular is chassis number 15, one of the six continuation cars, and it will compete in the Jaguar Classic Challenge race on July 9 at this year's Le Mans Classic. Another automotive icon will be behind the wheel of this iconic sports car. Top Gear presenter and automotive journalist Chris Harris will pilot the E-Type at Circuit de la Sarthe alongside an array of other vintage Jaguar race cars. Like the XKSS continuation cars, the Lightweight E-Types were also built to finish their respective production run. And although these continuation cars are only a couple of years old, they are identical to the originals and are thus FIA compliant for historic racing. Related Video:

40+ cars that barely avoid the gas guzzler tax

The Gas Guzzler schedule, with mpg ratings and charges that haven't changed since 1991, lays out which fuel-swillers owe what to Uncle Sam.
I started thinking about the "Gas Guzzler Tax" - considerably less well known as The Energy Tax Act of 1978 - when I was driving Dodge's new Challenger SRT Hellcat last week. Unsurprisingly for a car that can burn 1.5 gallons of gas per minute at max tilt, theoretically able to empty a full tank of premium in about 13 minutes, the Hellcat will be subject to the Gas Guzzler Tax schedule when it goes on sale.