Jag Land Rover factory closure ‘already decided'

Jaguar Land Rover management has already decided which UK factory to close – and the decision will be announced this autumn in 2010. The car making group, which manufactures around 250,000 cars a year, operates out of three UK sites: Castle Bromwich and Solihull near Birmingham, and Halewood near Liverpool. Those sorts of volumes are more normally associated with a single factory or, at a push, two.

Ford future products: New vehicles get lighter, faster and move upscale

Ford Motor Co.'s future-product focus is on improved fuel economy by making its vehicles smaller and engines lighter without sacrificing performance, safety or luxury. It also wants to push the Ford brand more upscale to capture customers orphaned by the shutdown of the Mercury brand, and to attract new buyers with more product offerings. Ford has said 90 percent of its North American nameplates will be available with direct-injection turbocharged EcoBoost engines as standard equipment or as an option by 2013.

Ford Focus goes SEMA mad

A total of seven Ford Focus at the 2011 SEMA Show There’s nothing American petrolheads (perhaps we should say gearheads) like more than tarting up a car. Which explains why the relatively sensible Ford Focus is being pimped to within an inch of its life for this year’s SEMA show. The SEMA Motor Show is a trade-only gathering – despite which it gets around 50k visitors – which the organisers call the “premier automotive specialty products trade event – in the world.” It attracts trade visitors from across the globe to see parts, tools and components and the ‘SEMA’ special cars brought along by car makers and car modifiers.