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Jaguar appoints Joe Eberhardt as North American President

Jaguar Land Rover North America has appointed a new president, Joachim Eberhardt. The German exec, 50, had previously done stints at Chrysler Group, DaimlerChrysler UK, Mercedes-Benz USA and Daimler-Benz.
Eberhardt joins JLR NA in a good, but challenging time for the company. It's fresh off the launch of the Range Rover Sport and Jaguar F-Type, which have been subject to rave reviews, and its overall sales are up 21 percent over 2012. Still, as Automotive News points out, the two manufacturers face a fight to become the equal of A-list competitors like BMW and Mercedes in the eyes of consumers.
"Joe brings a proven industry track record and valuable global leadership experience in luxury sales, service and marketing. We look forward to Joe leading our North American team in working with our retail networks to further grow the business and better serve our customers," JLR's group sales operations director, Andy Goss, said.

Chip Foose cooks up a custom 1974 Jaguar E-Type for SEMA

Avert your eyes, purists. California-based designer Chip Foose traveled to the 2019 SEMA show to unveil a resto-modded 1974 Jaguar E-Type built at the request of a customer. With a custom design and an American heart, the roadster took over 2 1/2 years to make. Finished in Green Sand, the E-Type was in seemingly good condition when it took up residence in Foose's shop in April 2017; it looks strikingly similar to a 48,000-mile example sold by RM Sothebys in January 2017. Many would drive it as-is, but its anonymous owner had something completely different in mind. Foose and his team modified nearly every part of the convertible's body. Builders punched out a scoop in the hood, extended the rocker panels, made the trunk lid about five inches longer, and gave the rear end a more tapered look accented by flush lights and quad exhaust tips. Even seemingly minor details were hugely important for the enthusiast who commissioned this build. While E-Type headlight bezels are readily available online, the ones on the SEMA car are hand-shaped from brass. Custom-built wheels put a modern spin on the E's original wire knock-offs. The interior looks period-correct thanks to leather upholstery, analog gauges, and a wood-rimmed steering wheel, but the list of changes is longer than the E-Type's hood. Jaguar's emblematic drop-top had a rather busy-looking dashboard topped with a padded cap and peppered with a galaxy of buttons, knobs, and switches. Foose's build adopts a cleaner, simpler design with gauges arranged in a cluster behind the steering wheel, and a chrome strip that runs across the entire dashboard. His team installed new carpet and bucket seats after concealing a modern sound system. To us, the new-look interior has more of a 1950s vibe than the original E-Type's. The changes are more than skin-deep. Tilting the hood forward reveals a Chevrolet-sourced, 6.2-liter V8 engine tuned to 525 horsepower replaces the 272-horsepower, 5.3-liter V12 this Jag came with when it was new. It shifts through a four-speed automatic transmission. Upgraded brakes and a redesigned suspension help keep the additional power in check, though performance numbers aren't available. It hopefully still has its original toolkit, as a factory-made reproduction costs nearly $1,000. There's no word on who commissioned this E-Type, but keep an eye out for it the next time you go to cars and coffee. The V8 exhales through a custom exhaust, so you might hear it before seeing it.

Jaguar considering lightweight F-Type Club Sport?

In the market for a Jaguar F-Type? Then let us commend you, first of all, on your good taste. But you've got a difficult decision ahead of you: Do you go for the power of the V8 or the lighter weight of the V6? It's a tough call, even if the ~$30k range in price from the entry model to the flagship doesn't phase you.
Well, to make the decision easier (or potentially more difficult), Jaguar is said to be looking into yet another tempting option: that of a lightweight Club Sport model. Tipped to be based on the coupe (and not the heavier roadster), the F-Type Club Sport would allegedly shed a good 400 pounds or so off the curb weight, not so much through the removal of one component or another but through a "holistic" approach that would call on all aspects of the car to play their part in ditching excess weight. That could mean everything from carbon-fiber body panels to a stripped-out interior denuded of sound-deadening materials and creature comforts, says Auto Express.
In developing the rumored F-Type Club Sport, Jaguar is apparently facing a similar dilemma to what buyers are pondering: will it base the track-focused model on the top-of-the-line F-Type R, with its 5.0-liter supercharged V8 driving 542 horsepower to the rear set of lighweight alloys but weighing down the schnoz? Or should it try to get more power out of the lighter 3.0-liter supercharged V6, which currently nets 340 hp in base form and 380 in S spec? Let Jag know what you'd do by leaving your thoughts in Comments.