2011 Jaguar Xf Premium on 2040-cars

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Who picks car colors and materials? Designers like Hannah Custance

As automotive journalists, we're often asked "how did you get that job?" People usually didn't even know you could do such a thing. In this 7 Questions series, we're highlighting other jobs in the automotive industry that you might not have heard about before. What do they do, how'd they get to do it and other questions about their particular corner of the car world. Slowly but surely, the automotive landscape is becoming more colorful. Look beyond the unrelentingly conservative palette of white, black and gray most buyers opt for and you'll see the increased use of exterior trim types beyond the usual chrome. There's gloss black, of course, but also other metallic finishes like gold or copper. Those can be found inside, too, where there's also an increase in colorful leathers and trims, innovative fabrics, new wood types and finishes, and greater creativity in general. So where is this change coming from? The answer is designers like Hannah Custance, the color and materials design manager for Jaguar Land Rover. Her team's latest effort is also its magnum opus, the 2022 Range Rover. Although saddled with the expectations that comes with one of the automotive industry's classic nameplates, the all-new Range Rover is also a celebration of cutting edge manufacturing and fashion-forward materials selection. We sat down with Hannah at the L.A. Auto Show to find out more about color and materials designers, how she ended up in the industry, and advice she might have for young designers out there. It has been condensed for brevity. Autoblog: What does a color and materials design manager to do?Hannah Custance: I basically look after a team of designers who design finishes for every A surface on the car. So, that could be exterior finishes. It could be interior trim materials, soft materials, hard materials, chromes, metals, woods, ceramic – that's one of the new ones – anything you can kind of touch and see is color material design. Autoblog: How early in the design process does your team become involved.Hannah: Right at the very start. In fact, we look at materials that don't have a product assigned to them or a car assigned to them. So, it takes actually a very long time for us to get materials approved and fully validated. We have to find suppliers that are willing to work in automotive and our test standards are incredibly high, some of the highest in the industry.

Jaguar pushes F-Pace toward Frankfurt debut [w/video]

Automakers regularly subject new vehicles they're developing to extreme climactic conditions to make sure they'll hold up no matter what the customer throws at it. We rarely get to see what those conditions entail, save for the odd batch of spy shots here and there. Jaguar, however, has given us a glimpse behind the proverbial curtain as it puts the finishing touches on the upcoming new F-Pace crossover. The British automaker reports that it's put the F-Pace through its paces in temperatures ranging from as low as 40 degrees below zero (on either scale – that's where they meet) to 50 degrees Celsius above (122 Fahrenheit). Those are some punishing conditions, achieved in the dead of winter in Northern Sweden and at the height of summer in the searing deserts of Dubai, where cabin temperatures inside a vehicle left in the sun can top 158 degrees Fahrenheit. The former is where Jaguar Land Rover maintains a dedicated arctic test facility in Arjeplog, with over 37 miles of test tracks carved out of the ice, snow, and mountains. Jaguar even threw gravel mountain passes into the test regime for the first time, because while it may be geared more toward on-road use than its Land Rover counterparts, people still expect their crossover to be sure-footed in a variety of conditions. Jaguar has now confirmed that the production F-Pace will make its bit debut in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. That's the same venue where the C-X17 concept that previewed the F-Pace's arrival was first showcased the last time the show came to town two years ago. And while the company recently signed a manufacturing contract with Magna Steyr to build an undisclosed model line in Austria, JLR confirms that the F-Pace will be built in the UK at the Solihull plant that already handles production of the Land Rover Discovery/LR4, Defender, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Jaguar XE. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

UK electric motor maker YASA expands production 50-fold for EVs

LONDON — British electric motor manufacturer YASA said on Thursday it was increasing its production capacity from 2,000 to 100,000 units with a new factory to tap into growing demand from carmakers for greener technologies. Automakers are racing to build greener vehicles and improve charge times in a bid to meet rising customer demand and air quality targets but Britain lacks sufficient manufacturing capacity, an area the government is building up. Last year, the government picked a site in central England to house a new automotive battery development facility, which will develop the processes required to manufacture the latest battery advancements. On Thursday, YASA, based near the English city of Oxford, said it had raised another 15 million pounds ($21 million) as part of its expansion. "Our customers are looking to adopt innovative new technologies such as YASA's axial-flux electric motors and controllers in order to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding hybrid and pure electric automotive market," said Chief Executive Chris Harris. The firm exports 80 percent of production and has worked with companies including Britain's two biggest carmakers Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan as well as Aston Martin. JLR will decide this year whether to build electric cars in its home market, previously citing factors such as pilot testing and support from science and government as pre-requisites. Reporting by Costas PitasRelated Video: