Jaguar Land Rover factory closure

Jaguar Land Rover are to close one of their production facilities in the Midlands JLR unions have already brokered a deal to ensure no job losses in the short term, but JLR are committed to rationalising their manufacturing across just two plants in the UK, instead of the existing three. The decision will be made about which plant to close in the next eighteen months. The most likely scenario is that JLR will close Solihull – which currently produces Land Rovers and employs 5000 people – and concentrate Land Rover production at Halewood.

Kia Borrego

Kia has released photos of the Borrego, a full-size SUV for the North American market. The production model, which was originally previewed as the Mesa Concept at the 2005 Detroit Auto show, would have taken exactly three years to be transformed from a show car to a full production model when it makes its official debut at the NAIAS in 2008. Overall proportions and design details have been adjusted and toned-down noticeably from the Mesa concept, with details such as more realistically-sized alloy wheels, the body-To-DLO ratio, a no-frills interior and, perhaps most apparent, the more subtle greenhouse graphics.

Ultimate Street Car Association opens registration for 2014 season

Back in November, the Ultimate Street Car Association was announced at SEMA as a national race series to oversee the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational and Qualifying. Registration is now open for the first event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Those of you who picked up any tuner mag from the last six years will remember the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, which played host to some incredible cars -- and demonstrated an overwhelming bias toward Camaros, it turns out.