Showing posts with label land rover. Show all posts
Showing posts with label land rover. Show all posts

Ford selling off Jaguar and Land Rover

According to news reports, Ford has decided to get rid of it’s two UK luxury brands -Jaguar and Land Rover. This is probably part of it’s restructuring programme. This news comes as a surprise because Ford had invested heavily on these two marques and they are doing OK. Jaguar was bought in 1980 for £1.6 billion.

Read the CNN report here.

According to the Economist, this is the latest sign that

the turnaround at the world’s third-biggest carmaker is not going well.


Workers at the Jaguar’s Whitley plant (their HQ) here in Coventry are quite worried about their job security. As much as I hate to say it, the fact is that making cars here in the UK is no longer cost effective. This news follows Peugeot’s decision to close their Ryton plant.

Latest news indicates that Cerberus, the private equity group that just bought Chrysler, has indicated interest in the companies. However, Cerberus has declined to comment. Read the report here.

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Small off-roaders improve safety

Last Friday, Euro NCAP released the test results for two new small off-roaders, the Land Rover Freelander 2 and the Suzuki Grand Vitara.

The Land Rover Freelander 2 achieved the maximum award of five stars for adult occupant protection. It is the first small off-roader to achieve such a result.

On the other hand, the Suzuki Grand Vitara achieved a reasonable four star score in adult occupant protection.

However, it did better than the Freelander 2 in pedestrian protection than, becoming only the third small off-roader to be awarded three stars. This is the highest pedestrian rating so far awarded in this category.

Summary of Results

Land Rover Freelander 2
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 1 star

Suzuki Grand Vitara

Occupant Protection: 4 stars
Child Protection: 3 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 3 stars

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