Archive for Land Rover

Tata is inching very closely to acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company, and everyone is already assuming the two companies are in Tata’s hands, in a deal that analysts have pegged at being worth between US$1.5 to US2.0 billion.

One company that is very happy about all of this is Fiat, who has a close relationship with Tata. Tata uses Fiat turbodiesel engines in their cars, and the two companies have a partnership worth Rs 4000 crore (3.3 billion ringgit) in India.

Fiat says this will most likely allow the Italian company to get access to Jaguar’s technologies. It is particularly interested in Jaguar’s rear wheel drive platform as well as Land Rover’s four-wheel drive technology. Yup, you guessed right – the first model from the Fiat group to benefit from this is most likely the new flagship Alfa Romeo 169, which Fiat plans to develop as a rear wheel drive car.

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Ford may forgo retained stake in Jaguar and Land Rover

Tata is on both ends of the car market right now, from one of the cheapest cars around that is the Tata Nano right up to two luxury brands that they are about to purchase from the Ford Motor Company, Jaguar and Land Rover.

While the original plan was for Ford to keep a minority stake in the company as it has done with Aston Martin (it retains a US$77 million out of US$925 million stake), Indian paper the Economic Times has reported that Ford has decided not to retain a minority stake in Land Rover and Jaguar as “it is convinced about the future development of these two brands in the hands of Tata.”

Ford’s earlier intention of holding a minority stake in the two companies, as with Aston Martin, was to ensure supply contracts and jobs are protected. Analysts have pegged the deal at worth between US$1.5 to US2.0 billion.

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The Land Rover LRX Concept will be making its public debut at the 2008 North American International Auto Show early next year. The 3-door compact SUV is smaller than the smallest LR2 (Freelander 2) in Land Rover’s product lineup, and is described as a “cross-coupe” by Land Rover executives, a term also used by companies like Audi with their Cross Quattro Concept and BMW with their BMW X6.

The LRX Concept carries over existing Land Rover design languages well – the clamshell hood and sharp lines for instance. Ride and handling for the concept has been tuned to lean towards on-road performance, but it is still equipped with off-road technologies like Hill Descent Control, and Terrain Response.

More photos including interior shots after the jump.

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The latest whispers being passed around dinner tables in the automotive industry are that Jaguar and Land Rover are currently on the table, and potential buyers are Fiat. It seems that talks started in February this year but ended last month, with no resolution. Sources say the talks were dropped because Fiat was concerned on how the Jaguar would affect Fiat’s credit rating. Fiat would have benefited from Jaguar’s rear wheel drive platforms if the sale had gone through.

With rumours of BMW being interested in Volvo, and most of Aston Martin shares recently being sold, it seems Ford Motor Co is looking to offload all of it’s Premier Automotive Group (PAG) brands.

PAG lost US$327 million before taxes last year, it’s third loss in a row for three years. Jaguar has lost the most money apparently, a total of between US$500 million to US$1 billion since 2001. Land Rover has gained traction recently though, pardon the pun

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The king of the luxury 4WDs will go on a diet for it’s next generation, but it’s a diet plan that will take 15 years. A new lighter Range Rover is being proposed by Land Rover engineers for the 2012 model year, using stablemate Jaguar’s rivet-bonded aluminium monocoque chassis technology.

This construction technique will save the new L405 Range Rover nearly 500kg, improving it’s fuel consumption, power, and so many other variables. It will also have a shorter roof so that it’ll look less top heavy. A hybrid drivetrain is also in the works – we don’t really expect petrol prices to have improved much by 2012.

This hardcore offroading buggy was built from a 1990 Range Rover frame with stock rear a arm and joint, designed by Rock Ware Motorsports.

It’s powered by a 4.6 liter Range Rover engine tuned up by McCabe MotorSports, hooked up to a stock Rover transmission and LT230 transfer case. Both front and rear shocks are Fox shocks, with 12″ 2.5 shocks at the front and 14″ at the rear. Wheels are 17 inch wrapped with 40 inch Goodyear MTR tyres.

Enjoy the two videos after the jump.

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Apparently, the new turbodiesel 2007 Range Rover TDV8 is so refined that Land Rover is afraid customers might mistake it for a petrol unit and accidentally fill petrol into the tank, especially if the driver is not a regular user of the vehicle. As ridiculous as it sounds, there was over 100,000 cases of mis-fueling reported in 2005. Needless to say, the cost of reversing such a muck-up can be very very painful to your bank account.

Which is why Land Rover has come up with something they call the petrol fuel guard system, which comes with the Range Rover TDV8. The petrol fuel guard system activates when a petrol nozzle is inserted into the fuel tank – it differenciates a petrol nozzle and a diesel nozzle by how deep the nozzle goes into the fuel tank – a petrol nozzle is thinner but longer, while a diesel’s is shotter but fatter. If a petrol nozzle is detected, a mechanical shutter is automatically activated, preventing petrol from getting into the fuel tank.