Jaguar Land Rover CEO On Trade, EVs, And Branding
These days, Jaguar Land Rover is a truly global car company. The venerable British automaker, now a part of India's TATA Group, builds cars on three continents while doing business in 166 countries. Leading the charge for Jaguar Land Rover is the company's CEO, Ralf Speth. The affable German ascended to the top job in 2010 after several decades in the car business with BMW and Ford's now-defunct Premier division. Speth sat down with Business Insider at the 2018 New York International Auto Show. Our conversation touched upon a variety of topics ranging from global trade to JLR's ambitious plans for electric mobility. The big news from JLR is the debut of its first electric car: the all-new Jaguar I-PACE crossover SUV. Even though the stylish EV has been commonly compared to the latest offerings from Tesla, like the Model 3 and the Model X, Speth is quick to point out that the I-PACE is unique. Even though both the I-PACE and the Tesla Model X are technically mid-size electric crossover SUVs, they are in fact very different in price, size, and performance. Over the past couple of years, few brands have been as well-equipped as Land Rover to handle the market's nearly insatiable appetite for SUVs. After all, off-roading is Land Rover's bread and butter. However, sister brand Jaguar recently jumped into the SUV game with a trio of models: the F-PACE, E-PACE, I-PACE. According to Speth, there is certainly competition between Jaguar and Land Rover, but it is usually between the brands' two highly touted design teams. Jaguar's offerings are "far more on-road orientated" and are generally considered to be crossovers rather than true SUVs, Speth explained. Even though the industry doesn't make that delineation clear to the public, it is clear within Jaguar Land Rover.
This engine also continued in use in some export markets using units built at a Ford plant in Brazil, where Land Rovers were built under license and the engine was also used in Ford pick-up trucks built locally. Production of the TDi engine ended in the United Kingdom in 2006, meaning that Land Rover no longer offers it as an option. International Motors of Brazil offer an engine called the 2.8 TGV Power Torque, which is essentially a 2.8-litre version of the 300TDi, with a corresponding increase in power and torque. All power is combined with an All-Terrain Traction Control which gives active terrain response; Ferrari uses a similar system in race traction. During its ownership by Ford, Land Rover was associated with Jaguar. In many countries they shared a common sales and distribution network (including shared dealerships), and some models shared components and production facilities. On 11 June 2007, Ford Motor Company announced its plan to sell Land Rover, along with Jaguar. Ford retained the services of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise it on the details of the deal. 1980: Rover car production ends at Solihull with the transfer of SD1 production to Cowley, Oxford; Solihull is now exclusively for Land Rover manufacture. 5-door Range Rover introduced. 1994: Rover Group is taken over by BMW. Introduction of second-generation Range Rover. 1997: Land Rover introduces the Special Edition Discovery XD with AA Yellow paint, subdued wheels, SD type roof racks, and a few other off-road upgrades directly from the factory. Produced only for the North American market, the Special Vehicles Division of Land Rover created only 250 of these bright yellow SUV's. Official formation of the Camel Trophy Owners Club by co-founders Neill Browne, Pantelis Giamarellos and Peter Sweetser. 2006: Announcement of a new 2.4-litre diesel engine, 6-speed gearbox, dash and forward-facing rear seats for Defender.
You will find that the letters SL indicates the current service category for petrol engines. The letters SJ represented the previous service category. The SL category includes the performance properties of all earlier service categories for petrol engines. The SL service category will thus provide maximum protection to a petrol engine. There are four current service categories for four stroke diesel engines (CH-4; CG-4; CF; CF-4). Service category CH-4 was introduced in 1998 and replaces all other service categories for four stroke diesel engines except service category CF. Service category CG-4 was introduced in 1995 and also replaces all other service categories for four stroke diesel engines except service category CF. Land Rover Service Manual with publication number LRL 0097 ENG (3rd Edition) prescribes that oil with API service category CD should be used in the 300Tdi engine. The service category CD was, according to API, introduced in 1955 for certain naturally aspirated and turbocharged engines. I do not know why Land Rover still prescribes the above service category in this specific Service Manual. My Owners Manual prescribes the service category CE.
Back in 1999 when The Green Rover was converted from a 2.25L petrol Land Rover engine to a 302 Ford engine I had wanted to convert to a diesel engine. I choose the petrol engine out of economics. First there are very few diesel engines that were sold in The United States that are good choices for a Land Rover, especially a heavy Dormobile camper with three fuel tanks & on board water tank. 300 for a core engine. Going with a fresh diesel engine would have about doubled my conversion costs. The diesels I was looking at would get approximatly 8 to 10 MPG more than a small block petrol V8 set up for economy. At the time diesel was a bit more expensive than mid grade grade petrol and my V8 is set up to run on cheaper regular. Running the numbers there was no way I could break even on fuel savings between rebuilds.
