1991 Black V-12 Convertible! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Jaguar Land Rover posts profitable quarter amidst big yearly losses

Jaguar has posted its first profit in quite some time, as the financial quarter ending on March 31 brought in a net income of $151.6 million. However, that is the light in the end of the tunnel, as full year results through March showed a $4.58 billion loss (GBP3.6 billion). The losses are again attributable to declining sales in China, with a whiff of the still-lingering Brexit process. While JLR's annual U.S. sales were up 8.1 percent, and U.K. sales improved by 8.4%, overall sales came down 5.8% to 578,915 vehicles. For April, Chinese sales nearly halved as they dropped by 46 percent. Earlier this year, JLR's woes caused its owner Tata Motors to post the biggest ever quarterly loss in Indian corporate history, at nearly $4 billion. JLR's CEO Ralf Speth stated that the company is "reducing complexity" and transforming its business by cost savings and cash flow improvements, citing the fourth-quarter profits as an example of the ongoing turnaround. Speth said JLR has already managed to deliver $1.59 billion (GBP1.25 billion) of efficiencies and savings. JLR says its turnaround program, dubbed Charge, will drive it to at least $3.18 billion (GBP2.5 billion) of investment, working capital and profit improvements by March 2020, and that it currently has $4.84 billion (GBP3.8 billion) of cash. Speth continued that JLR will "go forward as a transformed company that's leaner and fitter," and that the sustained investment in new products and technologies will drive future demand. There has been earlier speculation of Tata Motors selling JLR to the PSA Group, but as Autocar reports, Tata's financial chief again refuted these rumors. JLR also announced today that its CFO of 11 years, Ken Gregor is stepping down after 22 years with the company, and that he will be succeeded by JLR's Chief Transformation Officer, Adrian Mardell.

Jaguar XJ electric sedan debut pushed to late 2021

Jaguar's been testing prototypes of the coming all-electric XJ sedan for a while now, an example we saw earlier this year testing in the cold having reached an advanced stage. The plan had been to launch the battery-powered flagship fastback this year, with sales to commence early 2021. A report in The Sunday Times says that plan has changed, Jaguar pushing the XJ back to the third quarter of next year while the automaker focuses on its finances and its most profitable models. The site FormaCar reports, "The presentation date on the official website now reads, 'October 2021,'" but we haven't found that XJ-specific page. In response to questions about the Jaguar canceling the XJ, a spokesperson responded, "Our engineers continue to work on the next-generation all-electric Jaguar XJ. We remain committed to our long-term strategy and our product portfolio remains the same, but the unprecedented situation will inevitably have an impact on our immediate plans." The Jaguar Land Rover group, coming off a string of deep losses during 2018 and 2019, was working through a cost-cutting and turnaround plan when Covid-19 hammered the global economy. The whispered concern among outsiders is that Jaguar will drop the XJ entirely, but that doesn't appear to be the case for now. The automaker cut thousand of jobs while investing more than a billion pounds into its Castle Bromwich factory to prepare for electric-car assembly. At the moment, Castle Bromwich normally builds the XE and XF sedans, those offerings also in flux while Jaguar reportedly considers turning one or both of them into a small hatchback or a compact plug-in hybrid sedan. We write "normally" because the factory was put on pause to deal with Covid lockdowns, and isn't scheduled to restart until August 14. And above all of this, JLR is on the hunt for a new CEO to replace Ralf Speth. We've been expecting the new sedan to open the book on mainstream luxury EVs, the same way the I-Pace did for SUVs, but it appears that won't happen. The electric XJ will come on the Modular Longitudinal Architecture, and we've understood the specs include a 90.2-kWh battery pack, the same size as the I-Pace pack. There have been rumors about a four-motor setup, but odds favor a twin-motor arrangement. The motors in the I-Pace produce 394 horsepower and 512 pound-feet of torque. For an XJ flagship, we'd expect an even more powerful option in the range.

Jaguar celebrates 60 years of the E-Type with six pairs of restomod cars

Jaguar is celebrating 60 years of the E-Type — which was known as the XK-E in the United States — by giving 12 cars a full in-house restoration that includes a handful of 21st-century updates. Sold exclusively in pairs, the six coupes and six convertibles are inspired by the cars shown in Geneva during the model's introduction in 1961. Developed to replace the XK150, the E-Type was presented to the public and the press on March 15, 1961, at the Geneva auto show. Two examples made the trek from England to Switzerland: a gray coupe wearing registration number 9600 HP and driven by publicist Bob Perry, and a green roadster registered 77 RW put in the hands of official Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis. Both cars were driven to the event; the coupe arrived in Switzerland minutes before it was scheduled to make its debut, and the roadster was rushed to Geneva the following day. Jaguar chose not to re-release either car. Instead, it will paint the six coupes in a special shade called Flat-Out Grey, and it will give the six convertibles a coat of Drop Everything Green. It pointed out that both colors were created specifically for the 60 Edition models, and that neither will be used on another car. Edition-specific emblems created by Jaguar's design department appear on the hood and on the fuel cap, among other parts. Jaguar E-Type 60 Edition View 11 Photos Sitting in the cabin is like traveling to the 1960s. The driver faces a wood-rimmed steering wheel with drilled spokes (and a non-original 24-carat gold horn button), analog gauges, and an array of switches on the dashboard. Coupes receive Smooth Black leather upholstery, while convertibles get Suede Green leather. Don't look for power windows or automatic headlights. You'll need to manually roll down the windows and turn on the headlights. There's tech if you look, however. Jaguar concealed a modern infotainment system with satellite navigation and Bluetooth connectivity, for example. While that's available on any of the resto-modded E-Types the firm builds, the 60 Edition cars stand out from with an engraving of the route from Jaguar's headquarters in Coventry to Geneva, Switzerland, on the center console. It's created by hand in 100 hours by Johnny Dowell, who also goes by the name King Nerd. On the coupe, the engraving reads "I thought you'd never get here," words spoken to Perry by Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons after he arrived in Geneva.