LANDROVER MONTHLY 11John O’Groats to
Land’s End challenge
IN aidof the Ellen MacArthurCancer Trust,
a father and his daughter tr avelled from
one endof the UKto the other in aSeries I
LandRover.
While the 1200-mileroute isn’t what
you would call a particularly inspiring
adventure or endurance challenge, the pair
did it in a 1955 pick-up showing thetest of
time and avery hard life, not to mention
the co-driver – Ben Metcalfe’s seven-
year-old daughter, Hope, helped with the
navig ating, sharing thecab for up to eight
hours during the day. For tho se who have
done anyparticularly longcar trip with
kids –even in a moderncar with aradio
or even DVD pla yer to distract them – will
know this is actually areal mission!
Having already completed several
desert crossings in avariety of ve hicles
and been the first Brit to ever complete
the Dakar held in Argentina andPeru, Ben
has experienced those moments where all
seems lost, coupled with sheerexhaustion
to the pointof hallucination, but this will
be a challengeof a dif ferent type.
So why did they do it?We ask Ben. “Well
personally, it’s to strengthen that magical
bond between daddy and daughter. For my
daughter it ’s to see the natural beautyof
our surroundings, to grow in confidence
and not beworried by unplanned
experiences that will undoubtedly happen
along theway, but in asafe environment- to give her lifelong memories!But als o,
and more importantly in so manyways,
we are doing thisto raise awareness and
moneyfor a very special charity.
As we went to press the duowere on
their last day. En route theystoppedat
Classic LandRover andSolihull, where
they drove the Jungle track. Check out our
next issueto see how theygot on.
Check out next
issuefor fullstoryJLRstole all the gloryat the Auto Express AwardsJaguar Land Roverquarterly revenue declinesbut thin gs are looking upJAGUAR LandRover hasreported a year-
on-year 11.6 percent decline in its global
retail sales to 128,615vehiclesfor the
quarter. Encouragingly, thecompany had
record sales in the UK, up 2.6 percent
year-on-year for the period, while China
sales rose in Junecompared with the
prior month withsales of the new Range
Rover Evoque helpingto partially offset
the impactof we aker market conditions on
other models.
JLR alsoreported a pre-tax loss of
£395 million,comparedto a £264 million
loss in thesame period ayear ag o, on
quarterly revenues that declined 2.8%
year-on-year to £5.07 billion.Additional
plant shutdown time and delays in
WLTPcertification resulting from Brexit
contingency planning alsocontributedto
the lower sales and profits.
On a more positive note JLR are
simplifying their business, building on
their strong foundations and increased
operating efficiencyto return to profit
this fiscal year. Goingforward, atwo-year
programmeof new vehicle launches and
massive industrial investments should
trans form thecompany’s financial
fortunes. As well as three entirely new
model lines – the new Defender family,
the Jaguar J-Pace SUV and a new Range
Rover cr ossover (pr eviouslyreferred to as
the ‘Road Rover’, which will slot between
the Evoque andVelar), JLR engineers
are replacing theXJ with an electric super-
saloon nextyear. There will also be an
all-electric RangeRover model and an all-
electric Discovery model before 2025. JLR
has already announced that it isteaming
up with BMWto develop next-generation
electric drive units (EDUs)for future
electrifiedvehicles, but there are no plans
for an all-electric Defender spin-off.
All of these new models will be built on
JLR’s brand-new ‘flex’ MLA architecture,
whichoffers mild- and plug-inhybrid
drivetrains aswell as a pure-electric
option.According to Autocar the se models
will have a newSOTA (software over the
air) capability, with 14 ‘modules’ in the
vehicle’s electrical architecture that are
connectedto the internet, which will
apparentlyreducewarran ty claims,avoid
the needfor some recalls, offer predictive
servicing andeven user-based insurance.Jaguar Land Rover quadruplevictory at Auto Express awardsJAGUAR LandRover haswon four
catego ries at the Auto Express Awards
2019, includingtwo victoriesfor the all-
new RangeRover Evoque and a Lifetime
AchievementAward for former Jaguar
Design Director, IanCallum.
Introduced only thisyear, the latest
Evoque has already been named GQ’s
Compact SUVof the Year. Now, the
Evoquecan add anothertwo major titles
to its roster, following thisyear’s Auto
Express Awards.The expert team of
journalists named theEvoque their ‘Small
Premium SUVof the Year’, and highlighted
ClearSight GroundView in their
TechnologyAward. The realisation of Land
Rover’s 20 14 ‘invisible bonnet’ concep t,
ClearSight GroundView uses camerasto
project a 180-degree viewof what’s ahead
of the occupants, including underneath the
car’s bonnet.
They also named the Discovery as its
‘Large SUV of the Year’ 2019. Having been
crowned overall Auto Express ‘Car of the
Year’ in 2017, and ‘Large SUV of the Year’
in 2018, the latest Discovery haswon an
Auto Express Award every year since it
was introduced.
A very specialAuto Express Lifetime
AchievementAward was reserved for
former Jaguar Design Director, IanCallum,
who left the company on July 1 after a
stellar Jaguarcareer spanning 20years.