Baby Range Rover confirmed in Land Rover shake-up

By Phil McNamara Motor Industry 24 September 2009 11:08 The shake up at Jaguar/Land Rover continues, with a consolidation of the brands’ Midlands manufacturing facilities announced alongside plans for more vehicles. The headline news is that Land Rover’s Solihull factory and Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich plant will be amalgamated over the next 10 years. JLR promises there will be no compulsory redundancies, and the industrial logic is compelling: consolidating production of the Range Rover/Discovery and XJ/XK/XF lines will bring around 200,000 vehicles together under one roof – still 100,000 fewer cars than Mini builds a year down in Oxford. The move will reduce JLR’s fixed costs, provide room to grow and give greater flexibility to meet the natural ebb and flow of demand. JLR has also confirmed production of the LRX, the baby Range Rover.

First Sight: Mercedes-Benz A-Class

The first generation A-Class was the first front wheel drive passenger car from Mercedes-Benz and its first compact hatchback. Its revolutionary packaging and infamous encounter with an elk made a big impact in 1997, and since then over a million have been sold. Specification The new A-Class maintains its predecessor's innovative sandwich floor concept, where the powertrain moves under the passenger cell in the event of a big frontal impact and thus enables a longer cabin for the length of footprint.

Toyota recalls 35,000 cars

CA MAKER Toyota is recalling more than 35,000 UK cars after it discovered faults that could deactivate airbags, cause seats to move while driving or, in a rarer case that involves undue force, break steering columns. The three separate issues affect some RAV4, Hilux, Yaris and Urban Cruiser models, Toyota said. The Japanese company said there had been no reports of accidents, injuries or fatalities linked to the issues from anywhere in the world, but it was recalling the 35,124 UK-registered vehicles in line with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) code of practice.