JLR to post profits of £1.1bn

Excellent news...

I hope that the planned new engine plant signals a move to new all-JLR engines rather than bought-in Ford/PSA lumps (good as they mostly are now) - allowing Jaguar to develop some serious performance engines reflecting their brand heritage and the way that they're targeting younger buyers...

Seeing as BMW are abandoning the enthusiast driver, Jaguar, please, with your new engine plant, can you develop a new naturally-aspirated 2 or 2.4 litre (harking back to the old Mk2) inline six, revving to 7500rpm, driving the rear wheels through a seven-speed dogleg manual gearbox and a limited-slip diff please? In the baby saloon as previewed by AE's sexy rendering? Gearbox pattern all the way left and back for reverse, forward for first, forward for all odd numbers and back for evens, with R&1st, 2nd&3rd, 4th&5th, 6th&7th all on the same rail...

By StraightSixMan on 26 May, 2011, 4:30pm

Hi SSM, I share the same eagerness as you for JLR to make some very inspiring powefull straight 6 engines and a V12 super car but i do worry in the mist of creating all these future models and creating this engine plant i do hope JLR can finiancially support this on their own, as that is Tata's aim for JLR to become finiancially self managed. Making engines is no small game, its costly, requires a lot of R&D costing yet more money every year becuase of this EU emissions target and you are competing with the bigger players like BMW, Merc, VW, Ford (partnership with PSA and Volvo) and Fiat, Toyota, Honda, etc. my only advice to JLR would be to have long term partnerships or alliances with other well established engine manufacturers like Perkins for diesel engines and williams for petrol engines. Partnership with a japanese engine manufacturer like Yamaha would be very good. no doubt that Germans have some very good engines as they can dig deep into their pockets but JLR really need to be 10 steps ahead of them and they cannot do that without have partnerships with experts in the field. hope they are reading this ;)

By corsamani on 31 May, 2011, 7:48am

I agree with cosamani.
Financial strength should be used as muscle to strengthen JLR's hand in any joint partnership, and that this route is more likely than a strictly go it alone plan. Why when the big names in the industry increasingly form joint arrangements would JLR want to go a different route.
Having said all that well done to JLR team

By sherbo1959 on 1 June, 2011, 7:17am

Here's an idea for the profits...

...spend some of the surplus on QAing and properly designing their products, and investing in quality components. I have a Disco3 and it has awful wiring that is subject to rust due to a lot of it being exposed to the elements.

I wanted an off-roader, but I had mud and wilderness in mind, not the local garage.

By minicoopers69 on 1 June, 2011, 4:29pm