Jaguar Annouces Further Redundancies

Jaguar Has announced that a further 450 redundancies will be made in th coming months. 300 management poitions and 150 agency staff will be lost in the latest round of Job cuts. This is in an effort to cut costs with the Global recession having a dramatic effect on car sales.

Jaguars corporate director Don Hume was quoted: "Our employees understand that Jaguar Land Rover functions as one company and that this move will help both companies’ positioning as we move forward"

These job losses come despite the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders revealing that Jaguar cars sales for 2008 actually rose compred to 2007, mainly off the back of the introduction of the new Jaguar XF. Conversley Land Rover was hugely down with sales figures dropping by over 30%. it is a shame that Jaguar has to suffer from its ties with Land Rover, as Jaguar is expected to continue its strong sales improvement having announced a range of new engines in the Jaguar XJ, the XF and the Jaguar XK cars.

New Jaguar XF-S Diesel

New Jaguar XF diesels announced

Jaguar has revealed 2 new diesel engines that will be inserted into the XF and also the Jaguar XJ. The motors are both developments of the current 2.7 diesel unit that has won so many plaudits in the motoring press. The capacities have been raised to 3.0 litres, but with 2 different power levels:

The lower power version still has 240 horsepower, well up on the 207 from the 2.7 diesel - a 16% increase and a 15% increase in torque. This gives a 0-60 time of 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 149 mph. Startlingly the larger engine has an increase in fuel economy to 42mpg - a 10% improvement, while keeping the CO2 emissions the same at 179 g/km.



The higher power version gives rise to a new model in the XF line up - the XF S diesel. Its is a true high performance version with 275 horsepower, and a huge 600 Nm of torque. These give some seriously impressive performance figures, 0 to 60 time of 5.9 seconds, 50-70 mph in 3.2 seconds, a limited top speed of 155 mph. These numbers mean the new Jaguar XF S is 33 percent more powerful and has 61 percent more torque from 1500 rpm than the old 2.7 litre unit, and with the same 179 g/km emissions.

The new 3.0 diesel is definitely a replacement for the 2,7 litre, despite it already being one of the most advanced designs, and corrects the one small chink in the XF's armour when most road test pitched the 2.7 against the BMW 530 Diesel and E320 CDI - both 3.0 capacities, and should ensure the XF stays top of the class when the new Mercedes E-Class with its worthy but very dull styling hits the market.

New Jaguar XJ Spyshots

Latest Jaguar XJ Spyshots

Apologies for the absence of posts in December - An office move has limited our time scouring for and posting the latest Jaguar news - normal service is now resumed!

Just to prove it, here are the latest shots of the next generation Jaguar XJ that are currently floating round the interweb. Unlike previous spyshots which have been of the current generation XJ body shell being used as a test mule, here we have the real thing - early pressings of the body shell that will make up the new car, heavily disguised of course.



From the rear particularly, we can see the cladding around the top of the C Pillar that is designed to disguise the incredibly coupe-like roof line that the new XJ carries. This shows clearly Jaguar is moving away from the traditional 3 box shape completely, and towards the 4 door coupe style that we have seen in the Aston Rapide concept, the latest Maserati, The Lamborghini Estoque, and all started with the Mercedes CLS, which was internally known at Mercedes as the Jag-Beater during its development.

The new XJ is expected to be revealed at the Frankfurt show in September, and should have the new generation of engines currently being debuted in the Jaguar XF and Jaguar XK - the new 3.0 diesel in both 237 and 270 horsepower forms, and the 5.0 V8 both as a naturally aspirated and supercharged format. Prices are expected to be up on the £50,000 a current XJ costs.

To see more spyshots of the new XJ, follow the link here to EVO magazine: Link.