Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

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.

Audi planning their own version of the electric VW e-Up

Perhaps the most promising EVs from Audi so far have been the A2 EV (pictured above) and the A1 range extender with a small Wankel engine in the boot to charge the battery. But even they were dropped from Audi’s production plans last year. But now it seems Audi are back in the production EV game with plans to produce an Audi e-tron using the underpinnings of the electric VW e-Up, but with Audi styling and an upmarket Audi interior and high-end Infotainment.

Saab 9-3 Convertible Independence Edition

The Saab 9-3 Convertible Independence Edition Last week we ran a story about Saab’s Concept for the Geneva Motor Show, which we expect to be a concept version of the new Saab 9-3, but could be a first look at the smaller Saab 9-2. What we did say in that report was that apart from the Saab Concept we would see the debut of the Saab 9-5 SportCombi and a couple of limited edition Saab 9-3s – one of them a convertible. Well, with a week or so to go to the Geneva Motor Show, the limited edition Saab 9-3 convertible has leaked out through the well-informed Saabs United as the Saab 9-3 Convertible Independence Edition.