Porsche 951 Starter 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo on 2040-parts.com

Market view: why the Jaguar XJ has an uphill battle

By Glen Brooks Motor Industry 10 July 2009 16:11 It’s a sobering thought for Jaguar management that no matter how good the new 2010 XJ is, it’s never going to be a big seller. The global market for large executive saloons was in decline long before the Great Recession appeared, the buyers in this segment increasingly tempted by models as diverse as the BMW X6, Infiniti FX, Cadillac Escalade or Mercedes GL-Class crossovers and SUVs. The generation that was chauffeured in an S-class or XJ is retiring, with the owner-drivers who succeed them soon to be preferring a Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin Rapide or Audi A7.

Peugeot 308 RC Z – getting close

Peugeot 308 RC-Z caught testing (click for bigger picture) The 308 RC-Z is based on the same platform as the 308 and the Citroen C4 (which also underpins the new Citroen DS3). Power is likely to come from a choice of 1.6 litre turbos – 220bhp or 150bhp. Also likely to be on offer is an oil-burner.

One Lap of the Web: The Legend of Ludacris, McLaren engine removal and the Lotus Seven

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Want to see a McLaren F1 get major surgery?