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Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations division launches

Cars like the Jaguar F-Type Project 7 (pictured) will come from JLR’s Special Operations If the creation of the Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations division to create bespoke, heritage, ultra luxury and high performance Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover cars doesn’t shout how positive JLR are about the future, nothing will. Jaguar call it “meeting the increasing expectations of today’s most discerning and enthusiastic car customers“, but what they really mean is that JLR have now got so much back on their game with cars like the new Jaguar F-Type, new Range Rover and new Range Rover Sport that they now have buyers with deep enough pockets to pay for just about anything, so that’s what JLR are going to do with the Special Operations division; give them anything they want – at a price That will mean car like the Jaguar Project 7 F-Type we saw at Goodwood last year being possible, ultra-luxury versions of the Range Rover and even the creation of heritage cars like the new Lightweight E-Types could become a regular occurrence. With a team of engineers and and designers led by Paul Newsome, recently recruited from Williams Advance Engineering, the plan is to create halo vehicles for both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, and a team of 150 at a new Technical Centre near Gaydon will have a customer commissioning suite for bespoke and premium personalisation.

Future products: Acura will push for luxury credentials without V8, RWD

The dreams of getting a V8 engine, rear-wheel-drive platforms and a sports car to replace the NSX have died for Acura dealers. Now the question is whether Acura can follow Audi's lead and elevate its brand from premium to luxury with front- and all-wheel-drive platforms. Meanwhile, Acura may return to two segments that it had abandoned by adding a compact car and a coupe.

Jaguar at Le Mans – the Cat returns

Jaguar returns to Le Mans for 2010 (click for bigger image) 2010 marks the 75th anniversary of Jaguar and a close look at the state of Jaguar after so long in the business of making cars sees it in better shape than at any time for the last forty years. The current range of cars – soon to be joined on the road by the new Jaguar XJ – is the best on offer for a generation, and there’s a new feel about Jaguar; confident; forward looking; innovative. Jaguar is quickly become a desirable marque once more, and the future plans for Jaguar seem set to cement that growing feeling.