Carlson H5656q Front Disc Hardware Kit on 2040-parts.com

Jaguar & Land Rover to share more platforms. But you already knew that.

As Jaguar and Land Rover expand their model range and move to aluminium construction, they plan to share more platforms. Jaguar has been using an aluminium platform for the XJ for some time – long before the latest XJ came along. The aluminium platform the XJ uses is just the start for Jaguar Land Rover, as we reported back in 2009, and it seems that JLR are planning to use the move to aluminium underpinnings to cut their platforms to just two or three.

New Mercedes S-Class Plug-in Hybrid to debut at Frankfurt Motor Show

The new Mercedes S-Class (pictured) will arrive with a plug-in hybrid version in September We’ve known Mercedes were planning a plug-in hybrid version of the new S-Class as far back as 2009, and it now appears it will debut – as a 2014 model – at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September. When Mercedes revealed the Vision S500 Plug-in Hybrid Concept at Frankfurt in 2009, they had fitted it with a V6 petrol engine mated to a 44kw motor and a bank of lithium-ion batteries, and promised the hybrid S-Class would do 90mpg, have emissions of under 75g/km and manage 18 miles in EV mode. That means the hybrid S-Class would have performance comparable to the V8 petrol-engined S500 but attract no BIK or VED in the UK.

UK car production hits six-year high

The British car industry continued to boom in 2013, with production topping the 1.5 million unit barrier thanks to a resurgent Toyota, Jaguar and Land Rover. It means that last year, a car was built in the UK every 20 seconds! 20 reasons why the British car industry is booming UK car sales reach six-year high 1,509,762 cars produced was a 3.1% rise on 2013 – and, in further good news for Britain, it was revealed that 79.6% of them, or 1,201,395 cars, were exported to overseas markets.