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Formula E is on track financially, with NYC race coming up

LONDON - Formula E could be breaking even already were it not investing for the future, chief executive Alejandro Agag said on Monday after the electric motor racing series reported continuing losses in its latest annual accounts. Accounts filed at Companies House showed Formula E Operations Ltd reduced its operating loss to 33.7 million euros ($38.32 million) at end-July 2016, a period covering its second season, from a previous 62.7 million. Net liabilities rose to 107.2 million euros from 72.1 million, while total revenues reached 56.6 million from a previous 19.7 million. "Everything is going according to plan," Agag, whose city-based series will be racing in New York for the first time on July 15 and 16, told Reuters in an interview at his London offices. "Actually we are doing incredibly well financially according to our plan. "We could have broken even this year but we decided to invest more in marketing and promotion. We decided to add races like the one in New York, which is in year one a race which is costing, we have significant capital expenditure." "It's really up to us when we want to go to break even or not. We could be in break-even now, we could be in break-even next season but we may decide to invest more in marketing and promotion." Agag said the shareholders, including John Malone's Liberty Global and Discovery Communications, were supportive of the strategy and the series had attracted more investors, sponsors and car manufacturers. The New York races will be held in Brooklyn's Red hook neighborhood, with lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop with technology partner Qualcomm securing the naming rights. MANUFACTURER INTEREST Agag, whose series plays down competition with Liberty Media-owned Formula One, said more carmakers were set to join a series increasingly aligned with their commercial focus. "I think Formula E has become the preferred destination for manufacturers and there are a few reasons for that," said the Spaniard. "Obviously, one is that it is electric and manufacturers are more and more focusing on electric cars...and we are the only platform really to help them promote that technology and those types of cars. "And second, because of the cost. The cost of the team in Formula E is very moderate." Whereas top Formula One teams can burn through $300 million a year, as can the likes of Toyota in the World Endurance Championship, the budgets of successful Formula E teams are between 10 and 15 million.

Jaguar F-Type Project 7 arrives Stateside for $135k*

There are a great many things we love about the Jaguar F-Type, but one of them is that, whatever price point you're looking at, there's an F-Type for you. (Well, not any price point... this is a Jag we're talking about, but pricing varies greatly.) Got $65k to spend? That'll get you into a base F-Type V6 coupe, and you'll likely be happy for it. Eighty grand will get you into an F-Type V6 S, $90k into a V8 S roadster, and a cool hundred grand will get you the top-of-the-line F-Type R coupe. But what if you want to spend more than that? What if you've got more like $165,000 in your pocket and it's burning a hole when it should be burning rubber?
Well we've got good news for you, friend, because that's exactly how much the exclusive F-Type Project 7 will set you back. Making its US debut during Monterey car week, Jaguar has announced that the most exclusive version of its two-seat sports car - revealed in production spec just recently at the Goodwood Festival of Speed - will cost $165k in the US (plus the standard $925 delivery charge). That's roughly the price of an F-Type R and a base F-Type V6.
For all that scratch, you get an open-top roadster with 575 horsepower on tap - more than any production road car Jaguar has ever made before, and that includes the XJ220 and ultra-rare XJR-15 supercars. The most potent version yet of Jaguar's ubiquitous and long-serving 5.0-liter supercharged V8 is enough to send Project 7 to 60 in 3.8 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 186 miles per hour.

Jaguar flagship J-Pace crossover due in 2021

We've been talking about a Jaguar J-Pace crossover for four years. In 2016, the large luxury SUV version of the XJ sedan was expected to arrive this year and challenge the Audi Q8, BMW X7, and Mercedes GLS. More recent information from Autocar put the J-Pace's length at roughly 4.9 meters (193 inches), putting the English offering in a bracket with the Mercedes-Benz GLE and the Porsche Cayenne. Dynamics will be the priority, with the J-Pace intended to "beat the Porsche Cayenne at its own game." The Jaguar will supposedly do this with a novel hybrid powertrain arrangement on the launch vehicle. The new Ingenium turbocharged inline-six, expected to be the "mainstream" engine, will turn the front wheels, the rear axle turned by an electric motor. That setup will provide more interior room thanks to the lack of a center tunnel, as well as finer control of torque to the rear wheels for better bad-weather and soft-roading character. Autocar said electric and four-cylinder versions were possible although not confirmed. The magazine said traditional gasoline and diesel versions without the electric motor out back would likely come only in two-wheel drive. However, not only is the phrase "front-wheel drive Jaguar" a terrifically un-sexy string of words, but the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) platform has supposedly been developed for rear-wheel- and all-wheel-drive cars. The Premium Transverse Architecture (PTA), an evolution of the aged D8 platform, supports the Range Rover Evoque, but all JLR products are planned to migrate to the MLA by 2025. The MLA will come in high-rise, mid-height, and low-rise versions. Products like the coming Range Rover and Defender will utilize the high-rise version. The J-Pace will use the mid-height MLA, along with the rumored Road Rover. The Jaguar F-Pace and Range Rover Velar take the low-rise PLA. These tiers would put a J-Pace roofline beneath the six-foot-two-inch-tall Range Rover and make for a sleeker appearance. Autocar also says that the J-Pace will have more luggage capacity than the Range Rover, quite the trick since the Jaguar won't be as tall and will be around six inches shorter. If it arrives in 2021, the shape could define the next stage in Jaguar design; the next-generation F-Pace has been predicted for 2022, so it could fall into line established by the big brother.