Both Jaguar and Land Rover have recently received government funding for the development of eco-friendly technologies, and much of the work for the upcoming hybrids is expected to be completed as part of these initiatives.
[Source: Autocar]
Posted May 28th 2008 5:59PM
it's worth remembering that until a few months ago Jaguar and Land Rover were the red-headed stepchildren of Ford. Ford was far too concerned with keeping F/L/M afloat to spend R&D money on Jaguar (who was herroraging money) or Land Rover (who was just breaking even) for new hybrid technology.
Is five years for a hybrid too little too late? It's too early to say. Suppose Land Rover's hybrid is a monster offroad; you'll see a rather large number of government contracts alone for military purposes. We don't know what Tata has up its sleeve. They are the 2nd largest company in India, to say they can't afford the best and brightest engineers (many of which come from India these days) would be foolish at best.
In ten years we will be talking about Tata the way we talk about Toyota, BMW, or Honda. Giants in the industry who are constantly pushing the technological edge.
I'd rather they spent the time, energy, and resources on fixing the XFs face.
I'm just sayin'.
They haven't just started working on Hybrids as the Land_e concept came out two years ago and the LRX concept came out late last year. Land Rover isn't going to just throw in any random hybrid tech that won't work off-road. They could have used a modified version of the Escape Hybrid system but that is rubbish off road.
All those escape hybrids that California lifeguards got last week are going to get stuck the moment they get into loose deep sand. Pretty soon you will see a team of lifeguards strapped into dog sled rigs with the hoff standing on the hood shouting mush using a whip on them.
Mr. Tata bites with hybrid. It means he wants to fight against Toyota, he wants to sell a lot of cars... in Italian: http://autonovita.blogosfere.it/2008/05/laggressivita-ibrida-del-signor-ratan-tata.html
May 29 2008 at 3:02 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyDiesel 6? Oh, that is the Euro version. So Europe will get the torquey diesel-hybrid version (getting 26+mpg), and America will get the 20mpg gas V8 (well, also torquey).
I wonder if Tata offered diesel 6's in the Land Rovers, would any prospective/repeat Land Rover buyer get it over a 5.0 V8?
Their diesel already gets quite better then that....So now the thing a diesel is good at (highway cruising) can be paired with the thing hybrids are good at (city). I would expect city mileage 35 and if they give it a smaller diesel saying hybrid technology is quite strong in 5 years then maybe 40+ for highway. Lets hope maybe better? 5 years is a long time for tech to get better
May 29 2008 at 12:25 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWith all those extra hybrid parts, they'll just have more reliability problems.... I always stay away from these two brands, especially the Range Rovers. I also doubt Tata has the capability to make them more reliable.
Besides, 5 years seem to be pretty late to join the hybrid party. I'm sure there'll be better alternatives than hybrids in 5 years.
I can't wait.
I mean I can not wait.
Ahh forget it....
Five years? Yeah, that's not a late reaction at all...
May 28 2008 at 7:06 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyKinda what I was thinking...
May 29 2008 at 12:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply'...hybrid vehicle development for the two brands is now underway"
Excellent idea, hopefully it will be done in less than 5 years. Sooner the better.
Car industry is sounding more and more like politicians.