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Is this a Jaguar or Land Rover of the future? Yes, the near future

Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled a concept vehicle, Project Vector, that the company heralds as preview of future urban transport. The Project Vector is an EV, naturally, and is built on a skateboard chassis with all mechanicals under the floor. That provides for maximum space efficiency in the city-sized vehicle—JLR says it's roughly four meters long, which would make it about half a foot longer than today's Mini Cooper hardtop. It also allows for reconfigurability. The interior is accessed via dual center-opening sliding doors on one side. Four individual seats appear to be mounted on tracks and are shown facing in the same direction, but JLR also says the vehicle can be adapted for delivery use (presumably with most of the seats removed). Project Vector is described as "autonomous-ready," but for now it has a steering wheel and pedals. It's also claimed to be optimized for ride-sharing or private use. The vehicle was developed at the UK's National Automotive Innovation Centre, with the intention to make it a part of the "urban mobility solutions" in the "ecosystem of a smart city," according to JLR. The first such smart city will be Coventry, where an "urban mobility service" will be launched in 2021. Related Video:     Featured Gallery Jaguar Land Rover Project Vector Design/Style Green Jaguar Land Rover Transportation Alternatives Future Vehicles

Ferrari exec to lead Jaguar North America

Jaguar has announced that Jeff Curry will be serving as the brand's new North American vice president, effective August 13. The move is a coup for Jag, which lured Curry away from his previous posting as VP of marketing for Ferrari North America, and is further evidence of just how strong Jaguar's comeback has gotten.
Curry has spent over 20 years in the auto industry, and has worked with Audi, SiriusXM and Land Rover, where he made his start in the industry. His primary responsibilities with Jaguar will cover marketing communications, customer relationship management, and product planning.
Jaguar Land Rover's North American president, Andy Goss, heaped praise on the brand's newest addition saying, "Jeff brings with him extensive automotive and luxury marketing experience, critical expertise in leading-edge technologies and a personal passion for automobiles."

Automotive Grade Linux will be the backbone of your connected car

Creating a backend for a secure, reliable, and expandable infotainment system is costly and time consuming. The Linux Foundation, a non-profit organization, has set out to promote and advance the Linux operating system in commercial products. Automotive Grade Linux, or AGL, is a group within the Foundation that seeks to apply a Linux backend to a number of automotive applications in a variety of vehicles from various suppliers and manufacturers. AGL's goal is to create a common, unifying framework that allows developers and manufacturers to easily implement applications across platforms. Currently, the focus is on infotainment systems, but AGL has plans for instrument clusters, heads-up displays, and eventually active safety software. At CES, a display from Panasonic showed a completely digital and customizable dashboard that allows information and apps to be moved from the gauge cluster to the infotainment screen and back, all through the use of gesture and touch controls. Although the organization has been around for five years, it's really only been in the past three that the group has been working hand in hand with automakers and suppliers. The first two OEMs to participate, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover, have since been joined by Mazda, Suzuki, Ford, and, as of this week, Daimler. The latter is important as until now most of AGL's partner's have been based in Japan or the US. Other partners include suppliers Denso, Renesas, Continental, Qualcomm, and Intel. AGL want's to supply roughly 80 percent of the backend, allowing partners to then finish and refine the Linux system for each individual application. Think of how the Android operating system is refined and customized for individual smartphones from Samsung, LG, and Motorola. While the final product looks different, developers can have an application that will work across all AGL systems. Because it is open source, anyone can use and develop for AGL. You can even go onto the group's website and download a copy right now. There is also a software development kit available that helps facilitate app creation on the platform. Vehicle development cycles take roughly five years, so there currently are no cars that run an AGL backbone available for consumers. AGL Executive Director Dan Cauchy says products should be hitting the market later this year, with even more coming in 2018. Right now, the industry is relatively fragmented when it comes to infotainment and related systems.