2013 Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Jaguar Land Rover seeks to block U.S. imports of Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini, VW SUVs

You wouldn’t know it was about Jags and Lambos, to judge by its rather dry name: In the Matter of Certain Vehicle Control Systems. But thatÂ’s the complaint Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc filed on Thursday to block U.S. imports of Porsche, Lamborghini, Audi and Volkswagen sport utility vehicles it says are using its patented Terrain Response technology without permission. Jaguar Land Rover, a British carmaker owned by IndiaÂ’s Tata Motors Ltd., said in its filing with the U.S. International Trade Commission that the technology helps negotiate a “broad range of surfaces” and is a key feature in JaguarÂ’s F-Pace and Land Rover Discovery vehicles. “JLR seeks to protect itself and its United States operations from companies that have injected infringing products into the U.S. market that incorporate, without any license from JLR, technology developed by JLR and protected by its patent,” JaguarÂ’s lawyer, Matthew Moore, said in the filing. Representatives of Volkswagen didnÂ’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the complaint. Jaguar wants to block imports of PorscheÂ’s Cayenne; LamborghiniÂ’s Urus; AudiÂ’s Q8, Q7, Q5, A6 Allroad and e-tron vehicles; and VWÂ’s Tiguan vehicles. It said there are plenty of other luxury midsize SUV and compact crossover vehicles to meet consumer demand if the SUVs are banned from the U.S. Still, the premium Porsche and Audi lines provide much of the profit VW is using to fund its investments in technology for electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and further innovations. In addition to the four brands, Volkswagen Group owns other upscale nameplates, including Bentley and Bugatti. The International Trade Commission is an independent, quasi-judicial agency that investigates complaints of unfair trade practices, like patent infringement. It canÂ’t award damages but does have the power to block products from entering the U.S. Owners of patents and trade secrets like it because it can work faster than the federal district courts -- the typical investigation is completed in 15 to 18 months. But Jaguar also filed patent lawsuits against the companies in federal courts in Delaware and New Jersey, seeking cash compensation for the use of the technology. Those cases are likely to be put on hold once the trade commission launches its investigation. The case is In the Matter of Certain Vehicle Control Systems, 337-3508, U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington).

Jaguar and Land Rover to consolidate dealerships

Jaguar and Land Rover are set to merge their sales facilities, according to Inside Line. Jaguar Land Rover North America President Andy Gross says 45 percent of Jaguar owners also have an SUV in their stable, so it makes sense to give customers as much exposure to the cat's high-riding cousins and possible. The number of overall outlets will remain the same, and the brands will reportedly remain separate on the showroom floor, however.
So far, just one dealer has made the move to combine under the roof of one 68,000 square-foot facility in Paramus, New Jersey (above), though a further 20 are ready to make the shift and become Jaguar Land Rover outlets. Gross believes the shift is necessary so that his company's dealer network will accurately reflect the company's products. We'll see how cozy the brands are when Jaguar starts rolling out its own SUVs in a few years.

Jaguar Land Rover to recall 44,000 vehicles over excessive diesel emissions

Jaguar Land Rover is recalling 44,000 vehicles in the U.K. due to some of its vehicles emitting higher CO2 emissions than were officially stated. The recall is said to affect vehicles equipped with JLR's 2.0-liter diesel engine in cars built between 2014 and 2018. Quite a few models are affected, including the Jaguar XE, XF, E-Pace, F-Pace, along with the Land Rover Discovery Sport, Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Velar and Range Rover Sport. The excessive CO2 emissions were discovered by the British vehicle certification agency, who then reported it to JLR. The company is reportedly working on a fix that will satisfy the agency and bring the cars back in line with their stated CO2 emissions. As of now, JLR is not saying what the fix will entail. A statement from JLR reads: "The modifications will be made free of charge, and every effort will be made to minimize inconvenience to the customer." The U.K. magazine Which? said JLR told them owners might experience minor changes to the "overall vehicle experience." Reading between the lines there, that sounds like there could be some pretty serious tampering with the engine software, but we'll leave the speculation to a minimum for now. CO2 emissions numbers are used in the U.K. to set tax levels for vehicles, which means JLR could have gotten out of some taxation with its artificially low CO2 numbers. At this point we don't know how badly the numbers are off, so it's impossible to know how egregious the mislabeling is. There also isn't any explanation for why the CO2 numbers are off, but this is all information that could be forthcoming. The 44,000 number could rise, too, because the UK vehicle standards agency says that some gasoline models could also be involved. That would open a whole new can of worms for JLR. Some Jaguar vehicles (XE, XF and F-Pace) offer a 2.0-liter diesel option for the U.S., but Land Rover's only diesel it sells here now is the 3.0-liter V6. For the time being there's no recall out on the diesel or gas engines from JLR in the U.S. There's no chatter surrounding emissions cheat devices like those involved with Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal. Nor does the scale of whatever the problem is come anywhere near the amount of Volkswagen diesels that needed to be recalled or taken off the roads. We'll be keeping tabs on the situation to see if this expands any further than the U.K. Green Recalls Jaguar Land Rover SUV Diesel Vehicles Luxury Sedan