2004 Jaguar X-type Awd 3.0l Mint Xtype on 2040-cars

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Has the Jaguar XKR-S Sportbrake leaked out early?

Want to haul ass down the Autobahn with the whole family and all their gear in tow? Forget that Porsche Cayenne or Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 - what you'll want is a power wagon: something like an Audi RS6 Avant or Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Estate. Unfortunately there are precious few of these performance station wagons on the market anywhere, especially with American offerings like the Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon on its way out and the Dodge Magnum SRT8 long gone. But there's a new challenger emerging.
That'd be the Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake, a hi-po estate from Coventry that's been a long time in the making. And now it's apparently almost here. (Only by "here," we mean "there," as it's not likely ever to come to the United States.)
Apparently set to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show is a Frankenstein-style cross between a Jaguar XF Sportbrake and XFR-S performance sedan, taking the best elements from both. From the former, that means the extended roofline that gives it the cargo capacity of a small crossover. From the former, that means a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 producing 542 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque, driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Jaguar Land Rover planning to allow owners to earn cryptocurrency

Jaguar Land Rover, Britain's largest auto manufacturer, said on Monday it is testing software that will allow drivers of its cars to earn the IOTA cryptocurrency as a reward for sharing data. The company is developing what it calls "smart wallet" technology to be installed in its automobiles. This would reward Jaguar car drivers with IOTA coins for actions such as enabling their vehicles to automatically report useful data, such as traffic congestion or potholes to navigation providers or local authorities. Drivers could also earn rewards if the car participates in a ride-sharing program, Jaguar said. The tokens earned could be used to pay for tolls, parking and charging for electric cars. The overall goal was to "achieve zero emissions, zero accidents, and zero congestion," the company said. Global car companies are exploring blockchain applications, figuring out different ways in which they can leverage the technology to suit their different needs. Blockchain, the system powering cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is a shared database that is maintained by a network of computers connected to the internet. The British car company is testing the technology at the new Jaguar Land Rover software engineering base in Shannon, Ireland, where engineers have already equipped several vehicles, including the Jaguar F-PACE and Range Rover Velar, with "smart wallet" features, the company said. It does not yet have a timetable for when it will be commercially available, said Jaguar, a subsidiary of Tata Motors. The IOTA token is based on a distributed ledger technology that enables people and machines to transfer money and data without any transaction fees. IOTA trades on digital asset exchanges and was last at 27 U.S. cents per token. "The smart wallet technology ... can be easily adapted into all new vehicles," Dominik Schiener, IOTA co-founder and co-chairman of its board, told Reuters on Friday. "IOTA wants to enable interoperability with all these different players. So there is no Jaguar coin, no BMW coin, but one universal token for this machine economy," he added.

European automakers gear up for Brazilian production

Brazil is the place to be, apparently. Toyota has been investing in the South American country, as has BMW, which announced a $261 million investment in October 2012, on the heels of an Audi factory announcement in San José Chiapa. The high-end immigration is only set to continue, as Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar-Land Rover have both announced plans to set up manufacturing operations there.
Mercedes is the big news here, as its new facility will see the German manufacturer invest 170-million euros for production of its next-generation C-Class and upcoming GLA-Class. "Brazil is an important future market. With our local production we accept the challenge and take on the competition," noted Andreas Renschler, Management Board member for Production and Procurement at Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans. Production is expected to begin by 2016.
Jaguar-Land Rover, meanwhile, isn't so concrete in its plans. The news of its investment in South America comes from a job posting for a plant quality manager in Brazil that was picked up by the UK's AutoCar. "Portuguese language skills will be definite advantage" for interested candidates, according to the job listing. The want ad follows on the heels of remarks by Jaguar Land Rover's Dr. Ralph Speth, who said there are "very intensive discussions" with Brazil's government. Unlike Mercedes, there's no mention of which vehicles will be produced in South America, although AutoCar thinks the Freelander, sold in the US as the LR2, is a leading contender.