These leaked images show a sexy little Jaguar design study by Bertone, which may even hold some clues about the forthcoming entry-level Jaguar sedan due in 2014. Despite its compact size, measuring just 4.5-metres in length, Bertone has created a sleek and elegant shape reminiscent of previous XJs. This hybrid B99 concept also has suicide doors, which are unlikely to be present on the production model.
The Birmingham-based luxury automaker is once again what it was decades ago - a triumph of British engineering and entrepreneurship. And that success is an emphatic answer to the critics who accused Tata, under chairman Ratan Tata, of an act of vanity when he bought Jaguar Land Rover for £1.5 billion (R17.4 billion) in 2008.Here was a successful Indian company, they said, buying an expensive toy - a world-renowned product that was long past its glory days.
For the first 10 months it seemed as though the critics were right - in that time the company made only 167 000 cars and lost £280 million (R3.2 billion). But in the last three months of 2010 it made a profit of £275 million (3.15 billion). This was the fifth consecutive quarter of profits. And most analysts believe that in three months’ time Jaguar Land Rover will be in a position to report a record £1 billion (R11.6 billion) profit.
The turnaround is astonishing and a welcome change to the 18 months of economic misery up to the end of 2009 when Jaguar Land Rover announced 2500 redundancies and the closure of one plant - a decision rescinded in November 2010.
So how did this happen? Leading motor industry analyst Rob Golding said: “Three years ago Jaguar was unloved. Ford owned the company but they wanted to get rid of it. Ford boss Alan Mulally wanted to concentrate on Ford and to get rid of the luxury cars. But now they have been given a sense of direction and management and designers have been allowed to get on with it.”
While Ford may not have given its time to Jaguar Land Rover at least it did not turn off the investment tap and work on new models went ahead. Now Jaguar Land Rover is churning out a new range of highly popular Range Rovers, Freelanders and Jaguars such as the XF and XJ.
Inevitably it has taken top management changes to bring the company back to life. Industry veteran and former boss of Opel Vauxhall, Carl-Peter Forster, was recruited at the beginning of 2010 as group chief executive at Tata Motors. Former BMW executive Ralf Speth was taken on as chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover.
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