03~2003~jaguar~x-type~2.5~awd on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Jaguar Land Rover might buy another luxury brand that it doesn't need

It seems that Jaguar Land Rover may be getting bigger in the near future. According to Bloomberg, the company is looking at acquiring some tech companies, and possibly yet another luxury car brand, provided that it fits with the current lineup of cars. On the surface, this makes some sense since Bloomberg reports that a whopping 78 percent of Tata Motors' revenue comes from luxury brands. And of course, any kind of tech acquisition could be useful considering the rapid development of electric and autonomous vehicles. But dig a little deeper, and a possible luxury brand acquisition just doesn't make sense for Jaguar Land Rover. The main reason for this is that the Jaguar and Land Rover brands have the luxury market thoroughly covered. Both brands offer full luxury lines from entry-level to high-end ( Discovery Sport to Range Rover on the Land Rover side, and XE to XJ on the Jaguar side). They also cater to every kind of luxury, from sporty vehicles such as the F-Type and SVR Land Rovers, to cushy luxury machines such as the XJ and Range Rover. So whether the company is competing with BMW or Mercedes, Jaguar and Land Rover have the bases covered. There aren't any other typical luxury brands that would actually add anything to the current lineup. In fact, adding another conventional luxury brand could actually result in the new brand poaching existing Jaguar and Land Rover buyers, rather than picking up new ones. What would make more sense for Jaguar Land Rover would be to pick up either a more mainstream brand, or an ultra-luxury marque. Neither Jaguar nor Land Rover has something that competes directly with the likes of Ford or Toyota in the mainstream game, or Rolls-Royce or Bentley at the top of the luxury heap. Picking up a brand in one of these segments would allow JLR and Tata Motors to actually expand offerings and pick up more sales, rather than having an internal competitor. What path would be ideal? Probably going even farther upmarket. Supercar makers and ultra-luxury brands continue to sell well, and there's the potential for significant profit by layering on features and content to existing platforms. Perhaps the best possibility for a high-end complement to Jaguar Land Rover would be Aston Martin. Not only does it have a strong reputation and line-up, it also could handle both supercars and luxury sedans, thanks to its Lagonda sub brand. Of course it would require Aston Martin to be receptive to a purchase.

SVR plans to tune electrified Jaguar-Land Rover models, but not the I-Pace

Jaguar-Land Rover's SVR division has only put its name on high-horsepower gasoline-burning cars, like the XE Project 8 built in strictly limited numbers. It's open to the idea of tuning electrified models, whether they're electric or hybrid, but it confirmed it's not currently planning on making a spicier evolution of the I-Pace. "We will be developing electrified versions of our cars, be that fully electrified or plug-in hybrids," affirmed Michael van der Sande, the division's managing director, in an interview with Auto Express. But although the electric I-Pace (pictured) raced in a one-make race series held on the sidelines of Formula E events for two seasons, and SVR could credibly claim to inject track DNA into a street car, it stressed the I-Pace doesn't appear in its product plans for reasons that remain a little bit murky. Jaguar announced the end of the eTrophy series in May 2020, which might explain why it's reluctant to exploit racing's marketing power. "There are other various things we are working on which we can't talk about, but we're very interested in electrification. That's why we got involved in eTrophy," van der Sande clarified. "The technology transfer, the learning applies to that car and other cars but we're not planning an SVR I-Pace at the moment." His comments confirm we'll need to be patient to see what SVR's take on an electric or hybrid car looks like. One of the first electrified models to receive the go-fast treatment might be the next-generation XJ tentatively scheduled to make its debut before the end of 2020. It will be exclusively electric, though it won't look as radical as the I-Pace, so Jaguar will need to find a way to replace the hot-rodded XJR 575 model it positioned at the top of the last-generation model's line-up. It's not too far-fetched to speculate the next Range Rover also due out in the coming months will receive some degree of electrification, and it could spawn an SVR-tuned model, too. Related Video:    

Jaguar I-Pace vs. Tesla Model X and Model S: How they compare on paper

When Jaguar released its first specifications on the 2019 I-Pace, we decided to see how it stacks up with a number of other EVs including the Tesla Model 3, Chevy Bolt EV, and Hyundai Kona EV. The reason being that they all deliver between 200 and 300 miles of range, and they were all quite close in size. But it wasn't a perfectly accurate comparison, because the Jaguar occupies an odd space in the electric market. While it offers similar range and size to those more entry-level EVs, it packs substantially more power, more brand cachet, and, once the official pricing was released, a much higher price tag. As such, we wanted to also compare it with the cars synonymous with luxury electric motoring (literally), the Tesla Model X and Model S. We're only comparing it with the base-level 75D models of each Tesla, since they are the closest in price and performance to the Jaguar. You can see the raw stats below, and can find more analysis and highlights farther down. If you'd like to compare these cars with others, be sure to try out our comparison tools. Performance All three of these electric cars use a similar powertrain consisting of two electric motors, one up front and one in the rear to power all four wheels. The Jaguar I-Pace's 394 horsepower and 512 pound-feet of torque is a fair bit more than the 328 horsepower and 387 pound-feet combined power from the Teslas, according to Motor Trend. But in the sprint to 60 mph, the Jaguar doesn't really gain an advantage. It's 0.4 seconds quicker than the Model X, but 0.3 sec. behind the Model S. This is despite the Jaguar weighing about the same as the Model S, and a few hundred pounds lighter than the Model X. View 32 Photos At 90 kWh, the Jaguar also has a larger battery capacity than the Tesla 75D models, but range is again mid-pack between Musk's cars. At 240 miles, it's just 3 miles ahead of the Model X, and 19 miles behind the Model S. The I-Pace and Model X also are about as hungry for electricity as each other, both with an energy consumption estimate of about 36 kWh/100 miles, while the Model S is the most frugal at 33. All three vehicles have the ability to use DC fast chargers, with Jaguar claiming an 80-percent charge in 40 minutes at a 100-kW charger. But only the Teslas have access to the Supercharger network, and they come with credits for free charging up to 400 kWh at those stations. Exterior and Interior Dimensions In every measurable way, the Jaguar is smaller than the two Teslas.