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Jaguar Land Rover names ousted Renault boss as new CEO

LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has picked ousted Renault boss Thierry Bollore as its next chief executive, with a mission to return Britain's biggest carmaker to profit after a big hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. Bollore took over at Renault in January 2019 after the fall of Carlos Ghosn, but was always viewed as close to the French carmaker's longtime boss and was pushed out in October when the company was looking for a fresh start. Bollore will take over at JLR on Sept. 10, replacing Ralf Speth, whose tenure ends after more than 10 years. "It will be my privilege to lead this fantastic company through what continues to be the most testing time of our generation," Bollore said in a statement on Tuesday. JLR was hit this year first by disruption to sales in China and then by lockdowns across Europe and North America as the COVID-19 outbreak spread around the globe. In 2019, it cut jobs to address tumbling diesel sales, which helped it return to profit. But as the pandemic struck, it slumped to a pretax loss of 422 million pounds ($545 million) for the year ended March 31, 2020. The company has already taken steps to tackle the crisis, including agreeing to a loan facility of around $700 million with lenders in China and further staff reductions. JLR is also in talks with the British government over potential support, according to media reports. Bollore takes over a business that built just over 500,000 cars in 2019/20. He faces a number of tasks, including how to handle the Jaguar brand, which underperforms the Land Rover marque, how quickly to electrify its lineup and a potential hit from Brexit if trade barriers are imposed. JLR has a partnership with BMW on electrification, and parent company Tata Motors recently recommitted to the company. "Tata Group recognizes and values Jaguar Land Rover's future potential highly," said JLR Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran earlier this month. "That is why this company is central to our global automotive presence – a presence that we intend to develop for years to come." Related Video:         (Additional reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru and Gilles Guillaume in Paris; editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)

Lots of Land Rovers, Jaguars and Minis actually survived that near-capsized ship

Despite a severe list to starboard, many of the 1,400 cars and SUVs aboard the 51,000-ton Hoegh Osaka are currently being recovered in salvageable condition, with video showing some of the vehicles from British brands Land Rover, Jaguar and Mini, being driven ashore under their own power. The car-carrying vessel developed a severe list on January 3 and was intentionally run aground on a sandbar between England and the Isle of Wight. It has since limped its way back to port in Southampton, where damage assessments are being conducted on both the ship and its $53-million in cargo. According to the company that owns the car carrier, the ship itself only suffered minor damage in the incident, while Car and Driver is reporting that many of the damaged vehicles will almost certainly be scrapped. Still, the fact that there are vehicles, some of which appear undamaged (look at that Defender at 0:50!), being removed from the Hoegh Osaka needs to count as a net win. News Source: Car and Driver, WonkaBar007 via YouTube Jaguar Land Rover MINI Coupe Crossover Hatchback Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance Videos Sedan

US-spec 2017 Jaguar XE sport sedan revealed

The Jaguar XE touched down in certain international markets earlier this year, but now the US gets its first crack at the 2017 model, already updated after just a few months on sale. Our various drives of the entry-level cat have made us purr, and the price/engine combos aren't bad either: $34,900 for the XE 25t and its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gas engine with 240 horsepower and 251 pound-feet of torque, $36,400 for the XE 20d and its 2.0-liter diesel four-cylinder with 180 hp and 311 lb-ft, and $41,700 for the XE 35t and its 3.0-liter supercharged V6 with 340 hp and 332 lb-ft. All those prices are before the $995 destination charge. That Ingenium diesel will be the first oil-powered Jaguar on our shores, and will be one of the two models available with the company's torque-on-demand all-wheel drive, along with the 340-hp supercharged V6. Both AWD models are pure rear-wheel drive until power is required up front, at which time it can be shunted forward in 165 milliseconds. All trims get a ZF eight-speed automatic, but the supercharged 35t gets the sturdier 8HP70 transmission, while the rest get the more compact 8HP45 transmission. Cabin options will include an InControl Touch infotainment system with an eight-inch screen or an InControl Touch Pro system with a 10.2-inch screen and Apple Watch connectivity. Standard audio comes from a 380-watt system with 11 speakers, the upgrade runs to 825 watts and adds six more speakers. The sheet of standard and optional driver aids lists All-Surface Progress Control, a low-speed cruise control on top of adaptive cruise control, a laser heads-up display, Traffic Sign Recognition and an adaptive speed limiter that uses traffic sign information. The even newer XE gets here next spring, you can read more about it in the meantime in the press release below. 2017 JAGUAR XE DEBUTS IN LOS ANGELES WITH AWD AND APPLE WATCH CONNECTIVITY - Award-winning Jaguar XE sports sedan to arrive in U.S.