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Images of a modified Land Rover designed by the Duke of Edinburgh to carry his coffin The Duke of Edinburgh began creating his own hearse in collaboration with Land Rover in 2003, the year he turned 82. The duke, who served in the Royal Navy in World War Two, requested that the original Belize Green bodywork be switched to Dark Bronze Green, a colour used for many military Land Rovers. The Defender was made at Land Rover's factory in Solihull and the duke oversaw the modifications for several years, making the final adjustments in 2019, the year he turned 98....

For many buyers whose top priority is a car that won’t break down, the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study is gospel. J.D. Power just released the results of its 2019 Initial Quality Study, and the Korean trio of Genesis, Kia, and Hyundai took the top three spots. Luxury brand Genesis ranked highest, followed by sibling brands Kia and Hyundai. It’s a big win for Genesis which, as a relative newcomer to the luxury segment, needs to build credibility with buyers. The high scores achieved by Kia and Hyundai show that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to...

One of the women in the vehicle hit by Prince Philip in a car crash is speaking out about the incident. Philip, 97, walked away uninjured after overturning his Land Rover following a collision with a Kia near the royal family’s country estate in Norfolk on Thursday, while 46-year-old Emma Fairweather, who was sitting in the passenger seat, broke her wrist. Additionally, the driver, a 28-year-old woman, suffered cuts to her knee. Her 9-month-old baby, who was in the backseat, was uninjured. In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Fairweather said she was disappointed with the royal family because she...

Jaguar Land Rover will make all its new vehicles available in electric or hybrid models from 2020, it said on Thursday, two months after a similar announcement from Volvo. The JLR group is the latest carmaker to embrace the move away from internal combustion engines in the wake of stricter government proposals after the Paris climate accord. "We will introduce a portfolio of electrified products across our model range, embracing fully electric, plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid vehicles," JLR chief executive Ralf Speth said. Sweden's Volvo is also moving away from internal combustion engines, announcing in July that it plans...

When it comes to environmental regulation compliance, the Department of Homeland Security isn’t playing — as evidenced by a recent federal raid of a South Carolinian’s home to confiscate a Land Rover that violated EPA emission rules. Jennifer Brinkley said she saw a line of law enforcement vehicles approaching her home and wondered what was wrong, the local WBTV reported. Homeland Security agents then went to her 1985 Land Rover Defender and lifted the hood. “They popped up the hood and looked at the Vehicle Identification Number and compared it with a piece of paper and then took the car...

It's boom time at Jaguar Land Rover's Halewood Body & Assembly facility on Merseyside, the northernmost tip of the Tata Motors empire, the Indian giant that has coaxed a pair of venerable British car brands into performing one of the most dramatic U-turns in recent corporate history. Despite the 4,500-odd miles between it and Tata Motors Group's famously modest HQ on Homi Mody Street in Mumbai, the influence of the firm and its patriarch, Ratan Tata - who has made his fortune extracting value out of businesses that others failed to spot - is clear. JLR's assets, both human and...

4x4 fans look away now! Land Rovers imported to U.S. are CRUSHED by customs for failing safety rules because they don't have airbags • The exclusive vehicle was seized by customs officers in Baltimore • Its importer had attempted to fool the authorities by changing its plate • But they spotted the ruse and deemed it unfit for the US' roads • Often selling for upwards of $100,000, this one is now worth just $30 The wrecking claw hangs over the Land Rover Defender as its operator prepares to crush the exclusive vehicle on the orders of US customs. Moments...

A little known aspect of the strategies that helped Tata Motors turn Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) around is that it spent £200 million just to set up an independent IT ecosystem for the company. That’s nearly 12% of the £1.7 billion it paid Ford to buy the two British marquees in 2008. The money, spent over two years, helped JLR to have separate IT operations from Ford. The system separation was undertaken by Tata Technologies, a subsidiary of Tata Motors. The work involved painstakingly copying and cloning more than 1,500-1,600 business applications, said Warren Harris, president and chief operating officer...

Jaguar Land Rover turned in a profit of £55m in the last three months of 2009 after a loss of £60m in the previous quarter. The company's owner, India's Tata Motors, said the bounce back was thanks to stronger market conditions. It added that its range of new models had helped its performance. Its sales jumped 68% from a year earlier to more than 165,000 models, with most of the growth coming Russia, Europe, North America and China. Coming closures Tata, which bought the business from Ford in 2008, said cost-cutting also boosted results and it plans to make further...

The head of the UN's climate change panel - Dr Rajendra Pachauri - is accused of making a fortune from his links with 'carbon trading' companies, Christopher Booker and Richard North write. No one in the world exercised more influence on the events leading up to the Copenhagen conference on global warming than Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and mastermind of its latest report in 2007. Although Dr Pachauri is often presented as a scientist (he was even once described by the BBC as “the world’s top climate scientist”), as a former...

Jaguar Land Rover had seen its sales rise 23% in the second quarter after its new models were well-received. Owner Tata Motors said new products such as the upgraded Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Discovery 4 had had successful launches. ... Tata bought the British marques from Ford for £1.7bn in June 2008. Sales volumes at Jaguar Land Rover rose to 44,300 vehicles from 35,900 in the previous quarter. Aggressive cost reduction had also paid off, Tata said.

The future of Jaguar Land Rover, the largest UK-based car maker, is under threat as talks with the Government about a financial support package were on the brink of collapse last night. JLR, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata, needs guarantees on a £340m loan from the European Investment Bank and a £400m financial package from state-backed banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. However, according to sources close to the negotiations, JLR and Tata were left reeling on Friday by what they believe are unacceptable final terms set by the Government for underwriting the EIB loan....

Foreign companies and governments sometimes spend millions of pounds on research trying to "get inside the British mind", but there is a simpler way to work out what makes the traditional Englishman tick. Just find an old Land Rover, fire up its engine, and take it for a short drive down a country lane. The noise! The discomfort! Most of all the smell! The aroma is an odd mixture of Castrol oil, barn dust and chicken droppings. For some inexplicable reason, this is true of Land Rovers around the world, from Kettering to Kinshasa. They all have that smell, even...

Daily Market Commentary for March 26, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com Markets were plagued today with extremely light trading activity along with, low trading volume, across the board. A negative market trend followed the indices, into the close. Economic data out today fueled the selloff across the street. The Dollar moved lower (again) and crude oil soared higher by over $4 a barrel. New home sales fell to their lowest level in 13 years. Mortgage Bankers Association reported an increase in mortgage applications today which provides a slight glimmer of hope for the housing industry. Ford Motor is selling Jaguar and Land...

NEW DELHI (AFP) — India's Tata Motors, named front-runner to buy Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover units, could make a huge technological leap and save years of development by acquiring the car icons, analysts said. Ailing US automaker Ford Motor announced on Thursday it had entered "detailed talks" with Tata Motors, part of India's sprawling tea-to-steel Tata Group, for the sale of the luxury auto brands. "From a technology point of view and given the Tatas' global ambitions, this purchase would make a lot of sense," said Chirag Shah, analyst at Mumbai's Emkay Securities. "If they (Tata Motors) want to...

Two of the most iconic names in British motoring – Jaguar and Land Rover – are set to be taken over by Indian industrialists. The Tata group, whose interests include a chain of hotels responsible for some of the world’s finest Indian chefs, has emerged as favourite to take over the businesses. Ford is set to announce the new owners of its two troubled premium car makers within weeks. Should the Tata deal go ahead Jaguar and Land Rover will follow in the footsteps of MG, another erstwhile prestige British manufacturer, in falling into Asian hands. The Tata group is...

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press WriterTue Jun 26, 11:29 AM ET Fewer chartered planes, more train trips and a royal Jaguar that runs on cooking oil have helped Prince Charles achieve a carbon-neutral household, an annual review of the prince's accounts said Tuesday. The annual review by the prince's Clarence House office said Charles cut his annual carbon emissions by 9 percent, to 3,775 tons, between April 1, 2006 and March 31 of this year. The prince offset those emissions by investing in an agency that promotes tree planting and sustainable energy projects. The review said the prince's households —...

Ford Motor plans to sell Jaguar and Land Rover, its two British luxury brands, in an apparent step back from premium carmaking. Ford has asked Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise on the sale, which is said to be in early stages and does not include Volvo, the third luxury brand in its Premier Automotive Group. The lossmaking car companyÂ’s share price was trading 1.5 per cent higher at $8.36 on Monday afternoon after news of the sale emerged. Ford is understood to be selling the two brands jointly. Jaguar and Land RoverÂ’s vehicles do not share common...

WASHINGTON -- Nineteen conservative groups said Monday they would reinstate a boycott of Ford Motor Co., contending the automaker reneged on an agreement to stop supporting gay rights organizations. The groups set up a Web site urging supporters not to buy Ford vehicles after the automaker said last December it would continue running advertisements in gay publications. The American Family Association, which is leading this latest effort, had originally called for a boycott of Ford last year but suspended it for six months at the request of some Ford dealers. "Ford has the right to financially support homosexual groups promoting...

DETROIT -- For the first time in nine years, all of the top picks in Consumer Reports' annual vehicle guide are made by Japanese automakers. The Honda Civic is the magazine's top small sedan, while the Toyota Highlander Hybrid is the top mid-sized sport utility vehicle, according to results released Wednesday. Vehicles from Nissan Motor Co. and Subaru, a division of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., round out the top picks in 10 categories. Asian brands also fared best in the magazine's survey of vehicle reliability. Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus brand was first, while Honda was second and the Toyota brand...