2004 Range Rover Hse Navi Heated Seats Moonroof Grille Guard Low Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Cargo ship carrying 1,200 Jaguars and Land Rovers deliberately run aground [w/video]

A cargo ship carrying a load of new cars out of Southampton has run aground in the English Channel in between England and the Isle of Wight. The vessel apparently suffered some sort of failure just 45 minutes after leaving port that caused it to list heavily to the starboard side before the crew deliberately beached it on Bramble Bank to prevent the ship from capsizing altogether. The vessel, called the Hoegh Osaka, is a 590-foot car carrier weighing some 57,000 tons and registered in Singapore. Although several automakers (including Honda and Bentley) were reportedly looking into whether they had cars on board, the vessel is said to have been filled to approximately one-third its capacity, with 1,400 vehicles on board – including 1,200 Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, 65 Mini models and one Rolls-Royce Wraith. 70 to 80 pieces of construction equipment were also said to be on board. The Hoegh Osaka was en route from the southern British port of Southampton to Bremerhaven, Germany. Fortunately, no major injuries have been reported. The crew was mostly airlifted by helicopter off of the beached ship, with two crew members evacuated by lifeboat. One crew member reportedly jumped over 25 feet off the ship into the water before being immediately retrieved by rescue workers. According to the Daily Mail, two crew members were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, including a broken leg. It may take several days, if not longer, to extract the vessel from the sand bank and ascertain the damage to the ship and its cargo. An early attempt to free the ship with tugboats failed, meaning that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency may have to wait until more favorable high tides to try again before towing the ship back into the port. Bramble Bank, where the vessel was run aground, is a well-known obstacle to maritime navigators. The Queen Elizabeth 2 ran aground there in November 2008 with 1,700 passengers on board, but was quickly freed by four tugboats and was able to continue on its way. Two local yacht clubs also play a cricket match there every year at low tide. The vessel's operator, Hoegh Autoliners, praised the skill and quick thinking of the crew in acting to prevent the ship's capsizing by running her aground on the soft, sandy shoal. Watch the clip below for aerial footage of the beached ship, courtesy of the BBC. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Jaguar Land Rover's InMotion takes a stab at carsharing

Jaguar Land Rover's new InMotion mobility business aims to capitalize on the growing carsharing boom and develop other forms of alternative transportation. The first pilot programs kick off in the coming months in North America, Europe, and Asia. JLR owns InMotion, but the company acts independently from the automaker. "As a start-up business, InMotion combines the flexibility and pace needed to compete in the ever-changing mobility sector. It allows us to react quickly to new tech and ever-changing customer demands," Adrian Hallmark, JLR's Group Strategy Director, said in a statement. The 30-person firm intends to develop its own answers to upcoming transport problems and also invest in entrepreneurs to develop those solutions. InMotion isn't yet providing many details about what projects the firm expects to tackle, but the Website mentions carsharing and on-demand delivery services. Establishing InMotion shows that JLR doesn't want to fall behind the current trends in the auto industry. Practically every major automaker is currently pursuing future transportation ideas. For example, Ford recently took a very similar approach when it spun off Smart Mobility into a separate startup. BMW also rebranded its DriveNow carsharing service into ReachNow to also add a future ridesharing service. Related Video: JAGUAR LAND ROVER LAUNCHES NEW TECHNOLOGY START-UP InMotion launched to create innovative solutions, helping customers to overcome travel and transport issues Independent business with the agility and independence to react quickly in mobility sector InMotion will create apps and on-demand services Whitley, 11th April 2016: Jaguar Land Rover has launched InMotion, a new technology business that builds apps and on-demand services to overcome modern travel and transport challenges. Next month InMotion will begin real-world testing of a number of different services such as car sharing and car ownership solutions, across North America, Europe and Asia in the coming months. Adrian Hallmark, Group Strategy Director, Jaguar Land Rover said:"With the development of new apps and on-demand services, InMotion provides us with an opportunity to provide engaging and invaluable experiences to both new and existing customers globally." "As a start-up business, InMotion combines the flexibility and pace needed to compete in the ever-changing mobility sector.

European automakers gear up for Brazilian production

Brazil is the place to be, apparently. Toyota has been investing in the South American country, as has BMW, which announced a $261 million investment in October 2012, on the heels of an Audi factory announcement in San José Chiapa. The high-end immigration is only set to continue, as Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar-Land Rover have both announced plans to set up manufacturing operations there.
Mercedes is the big news here, as its new facility will see the German manufacturer invest 170-million euros for production of its next-generation C-Class and upcoming GLA-Class. "Brazil is an important future market. With our local production we accept the challenge and take on the competition," noted Andreas Renschler, Management Board member for Production and Procurement at Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans. Production is expected to begin by 2016.
Jaguar-Land Rover, meanwhile, isn't so concrete in its plans. The news of its investment in South America comes from a job posting for a plant quality manager in Brazil that was picked up by the UK's AutoCar. "Portuguese language skills will be definite advantage" for interested candidates, according to the job listing. The want ad follows on the heels of remarks by Jaguar Land Rover's Dr. Ralph Speth, who said there are "very intensive discussions" with Brazil's government. Unlike Mercedes, there's no mention of which vehicles will be produced in South America, although AutoCar thinks the Freelander, sold in the US as the LR2, is a leading contender.