#LandRover

Tata is looking at twinning a new aluminum smelter with a vehicle assembly plant that would build Land Rover products.

The all new fourth generation Range Rover is around the corner. I have already given you all the (available) details of the new Range Rover along with accurate renderings. Now for the reveal dates. Land Rover will unveil the new Range Rover to the media around the 6th of September. Around the 23rd of August, the company will reveal pictures and more details about the vehicle. These details will be revealed online. The new Range Rover will have its first public outing at the upcoming Paris Motor Show in the last week of September.

Once upon a time, Land Rover was a classic British marque and I counted myself proud to have taken delivery of not one (which is mere interest), not two (which is simple optimism), but four new Discoveries and Range Rovers in my twentysomething years.

Now, of course, the “Britishness” of LR is a marketing angle, designed to con the “punters” into parting with increasingly ridiculous amounts of cash for ever more nouveau-friendly vehicles such as the absurd Range Rover Sport HSE Luxury. To make that Britishness more palatable, Land Rover has “formalised” a relationship with the crazy people who used to make the Bowler Wildcat.

Chery has asked the Chinese government for its blessing regarding a joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover worth $1.9 billion.

When Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to start hiring workers at their Halewood plant, the company received 6,000 applications in less than 24 hours. One month on, and Jaguar has received a further 29,000 applications.

Two new engines will be joining the Jaguar family, with at least one confirmed for the new F-Type sports car.

The Land Rover Defender may be in for a substantial “reboot”, from utilitarian niche vehicle into the brand’s volume seller, when an all-new version goes on sale in 2015.

Opinions from the B&B regarding the Range Rover Evoque were somewhat mixed, but Jaguar Land Rover is having so much trouble keeping up with demand that they’re hiring.

Last May, I had the chance to drive the Range Rover Supercharged, the alpha dog of the Range Rover lineup. Though I was charmed by the incredible power and opulent cabin, I felt that the Range Rover was afflicted by a curse that affects many upper echelon vehicles – all the flash and features were spoilt by an underlying impracticality.

In 1998, Britney Spears launched a thousand ephebophilc ships with her seminal work – the music video for “ Hit Me Baby One More Time“. Featured in the video was a Land Rover Defender – the only reason I know this is because I wasn’t interested in girls when the song came out. Now that I’m much older, I can understand the hidden subtext; Land Rover needs another ragtop SUV!

What’s the difference between the Range Rover Evoque and the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet? About $545, and the fact that people will actually buy the proposed convertible version of the Evoque, solely due to the “Range Rover” lettering on the front end.

How do you say “grace, pace and space” in Mandarin? Jaguar Land Rover is apparently partnering with Chinese automaker Chery to build cars in China. While an announcement wont come until April’s Beijing Auto Show, the two companies have applied for permission from China’s regulators.

Consumer Reports failed to give the Range Rover Evoque its “Recommended Rating”. Instead, the BMW X3 nabbed the coveted title. Too bad the hordes of auto journos and status-concious customers have spoken.

Jack has already e xpressed his displeasure with the Evoque being named winning another Truck of the Year, but his blood pressure won’t be rising just yet. The Evoque, along with the Hyundai Elantra, just took home the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards.

After making rather disparaging remarks about the management culture at Jaguar Land Rover, Tata CEO Ratan Tata is attempting to do some major damage control after he criticized the Brits in a May, 2011 interview with The Times.

Although the article is hidden behind a pay wall, Tata is widely quoted as saying that “…nobody is willing to go the extra mile, nobody.” At the Delhi Auto Show, Tata essentially backtracked on his comments, saying his fairly explicit comments were misunderstood.