An editorial from Dave Leggett
I guess the big picture in the Ford-Tata deal for Jaguar and
Land Rover announced last week is the seismic shift in the
global economy that it points to. A long established Western
company, Ford, is deep in the financial mire and having to
sell assets just to survive. And it’s an Indian company that
has emerged to buy those assets.
The transfer of ownership of two such quintessentially
British brands to India has an even deeper resonance for
many in both Britain and India when you consider the history
of relations between the two countries. And this takes Tata
Motors into the big time in one step – these are two major
brands with global footprints (by comparison Chinese firms
are still struggling to make headway globally).
So, what went wrong with Ford’s JLR stewardship? With Land
Rover not all that much (let’s not get into quality issues,
they go way back and Ford’s only had LR since 2000). With
Jaguar, it went for volume and tried to mix it with Merc and
BMW. The strategy failed.
Around the beginning of this decade, Ford decided to
really go for it with Jaguar. The idea was to lever off Ford
Group platforms to save cost and also reposition Jaguar as a
brand to take on the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the
higher volume executive car segments. The theory was
certainly seductive. This was Ford’s PAG really coming
together.
First we got the S-Type (criticised by some as an overly
‘Amercanised’ product, but it wasn’t that bad). The real
howler, it turned out, was the X-Type. It never came close
to the ambitious targets set for it. Was the Mondeo
platform-based car an utter lemon? No, but it simply could
not do the job set for it.
I recall the then Jaguar MD Jonathan Browning telling me
in 2001, just as X-Type was launching, that the aim was to
achieve overall Jaguar volume in the region of 200,000 units
annually in the medium-term. The X-Type was supposed to be a
big part of the doubling of overall Jag volume from a level
of about 100,000 units back then.
In 2004, when I interviewed Nick Scheele (by then Ford
COO, but still a Jag stalwart who had done much to turn the
brand around on quality) in his office in Dearborn, Jaguar
was at around 125,000 units of volume per annum and only
just rolling out a diesel-engine on the X-Type – the absence
of which had been a big handicap in Europe. He defended the
X-Type but acknowledged the problems faced by the late
diesel in Europe and a US market that had become a
‘dogfight’ in the X-Type’s segment.
Ultimately, the X-Type simply didn’t appeal to enough
people in a segment ruled by the likes of the BMW 3 Series.
Jaguar had bitten off more than it could chew with the X.
Losses mounted and Browns Lane bit the dust as an assembly
plant.
The cost squeeze seems to have done the trick on moving
Jaguar close to breakeven now. The S-Type replacement, the
XF, is a car that has had very good reviews. The design
eschews the three-box trad-Jag look that constrained the
broadening of the appeal on both the S and X. That looks
like a good move.
With the XF’s market impact to come, Tata has perhaps
taken over Jaguar at a very good time. Annual Jaguar
production slumped to just 54,000 units last year. From what
I hear, feet are well and truly on the ground at Jaguar
these days and the positioning of the brand going forward
will be sensitive to the unfortunate experience with the
X-Type. Getting Jaguar to around 100,000 units a year sounds
like a reasonable mid-term goal; a recovery to a sustainable
level, Jaguar positioned firmly in an upscale part of the
market. The success of the XF in the market will be crucial,
but as the song says, and given where Jaguar is right now,
the only way is up.
Courtsey : http://www.just-auto.com
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Bad weekend for Karun and Isport drivers.
Is the ISPORT team loosing its champion status? Did they made a mistake by taking Karun and Bruno the so called less experiencd drivers? No idea about it but it looks as if the team is preparing for the BIG SEASON. It is very clear that ISPORT is not going to win the championship in the opening round of GP2 series.
It was really a bad day for Karun in future race even if was on the 1st grid. The engine didnot start and he has to start from the PITS. That spoiled the whole party after a heavy rain and many off track excursions and finally the red flag to start fresh.
Karun eneded the race with bad memories and collided with Arman at turn 1 after runnng over a water bubble.
Karun Chandhok and Armaan Ebrahim finished seventh and 19th respectively in the sprint race of the GP2 Asia Championship at the Sepang circuit on Sunday.
Starting 15th on the grid, Karun, a 24-year-old from Chennai, made places but got stuck behind a slower car and had to be content with the seventh position that put him out of points.
Armaan, 18, also from Chennai, began the race from 14th spot. He had a poor start as the car in front of him on the grid stalled and he swiftly lost places. Armaan did move up to 16th before facing problems with the car that slowed him down.
“I had to literally muscle the car through the corners and it cost me precious time,” said a disappointed Armaan. “I know for sure I have the pace, especially in the wet. I finished ninth at Sentul in heavy rain and was among points yesterday (Saturday) in a wet race before the collision with Karun. I feel that if I can put in more miles in the car, I will be able to deliver better results,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karun enjoyed a better start and swiftly moved to eighth and then seventh, but could not find a way past Fairuz Fauzi and trailed the Malaysian home. “The weekend was a disaster, especially considering that we had the pace, put in fastest laps, and yet came away without a point for the second weekend in a row,” Karun summed up his performance here.
Kamui Kobayashi (DAMS) won the race, leading from start to finish. Romain Grosjean (ART GP) was second after a brilliant drive. Feature race winner Vitaly Petrov (Barwa International) came at the third spot.
So we expect a very good show from Karun in Baharin. This will stop all the gossips whether ISPORT has done all right in taking him on board. Well big question but Karun is a good driver and that will stop all this in the next race.
It was really a bad day for Karun in future race even if was on the 1st grid. The engine didnot start and he has to start from the PITS. That spoiled the whole party after a heavy rain and many off track excursions and finally the red flag to start fresh.
Karun eneded the race with bad memories and collided with Arman at turn 1 after runnng over a water bubble.
Karun Chandhok and Armaan Ebrahim finished seventh and 19th respectively in the sprint race of the GP2 Asia Championship at the Sepang circuit on Sunday.
Starting 15th on the grid, Karun, a 24-year-old from Chennai, made places but got stuck behind a slower car and had to be content with the seventh position that put him out of points.
Armaan, 18, also from Chennai, began the race from 14th spot. He had a poor start as the car in front of him on the grid stalled and he swiftly lost places. Armaan did move up to 16th before facing problems with the car that slowed him down.
“I had to literally muscle the car through the corners and it cost me precious time,” said a disappointed Armaan. “I know for sure I have the pace, especially in the wet. I finished ninth at Sentul in heavy rain and was among points yesterday (Saturday) in a wet race before the collision with Karun. I feel that if I can put in more miles in the car, I will be able to deliver better results,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karun enjoyed a better start and swiftly moved to eighth and then seventh, but could not find a way past Fairuz Fauzi and trailed the Malaysian home. “The weekend was a disaster, especially considering that we had the pace, put in fastest laps, and yet came away without a point for the second weekend in a row,” Karun summed up his performance here.
Kamui Kobayashi (DAMS) won the race, leading from start to finish. Romain Grosjean (ART GP) was second after a brilliant drive. Feature race winner Vitaly Petrov (Barwa International) came at the third spot.
So we expect a very good show from Karun in Baharin. This will stop all the gossips whether ISPORT has done all right in taking him on board. Well big question but Karun is a good driver and that will stop all this in the next race.
Good show by Gincarole in Sepang
The Force India Formula One Team has finished the Sepang race with Gincarlo on 12th and Sutil DNF.
Sutil started very well and was upto 14th. He was looking good and looked as if he can compete with the Honda's. However an unwanted Hydraulic failure just spoiled the party for Force India F1. However Gencarlo had a good session with the car. After the 1st pit stop his laptimes improved and many times he was lapping faster than even the honda's and renaults. It was good performance by the Italian and he looked really the best recruits for Force India. And it seems Force India F1 has done all right in taking Gencarlo taking on board. The stylist racer finished at 12 ahead of Honda's Barrichllo and ahead of the Williams. It was good to see many Indian flags in the Paddlock.
Here are the comments after the race.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
‘Very early on in the race I developed a mechanical problem and had to switch the engine off and pull off the track. I am very disappointed with this start to the season, especially after I had to stop so soon into the race in Australia too.’
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)
‘I think we honestly did our best here. At the start I had a lot of wheelspin and lost a lot of positions, I don’t know why but we have to look into it. On my first stint I was suffering a lot of understeer with graining on the soft tyres but then in my stop I adjusted the front flap and went onto the harder tyres and stayed on them for both stints. I am happy with the race pace later on though and it is promising for the rest of the season.’
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
‘Some real positives from the weekend, but also some very bad luck for Adrian. He had had a difficult weekend until the race but then made a great start and his race pace was looking really strong, so it’s a real shame we had a hydraulic issue on his car very early on. Giancarlo made a bad start, but after the first stop he showed a really competitive race pace. Ultimately it was disappointing not to get two cars to the finish but overall I think we can look forward to a much better season than the team has had over the last few years.’
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director
‘Overall we have shown a genuine improvement in pace in Malaysia from last season. In 2007 this team was at the back of the grid, this year we were just 0.05secs from getting into Q2. We have bettered our fastest lap by over two seconds, more than any other team on the grid, but more importantly we showed that we are now able to race and are no longer the team bringing up the rear of the field. Unfortunately Adrian once again went out in the early stages through no fault of his own, which sadly denied him the chance to show how he could do under race conditions, but Giancarlo drove an excellent race, setting some very promising times and was able to fight for position. I feel this is highly promising for the rest of the season.’
Sutil started very well and was upto 14th. He was looking good and looked as if he can compete with the Honda's. However an unwanted Hydraulic failure just spoiled the party for Force India F1. However Gencarlo had a good session with the car. After the 1st pit stop his laptimes improved and many times he was lapping faster than even the honda's and renaults. It was good performance by the Italian and he looked really the best recruits for Force India. And it seems Force India F1 has done all right in taking Gencarlo taking on board. The stylist racer finished at 12 ahead of Honda's Barrichllo and ahead of the Williams. It was good to see many Indian flags in the Paddlock.
Here are the comments after the race.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
‘Very early on in the race I developed a mechanical problem and had to switch the engine off and pull off the track. I am very disappointed with this start to the season, especially after I had to stop so soon into the race in Australia too.’
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)
‘I think we honestly did our best here. At the start I had a lot of wheelspin and lost a lot of positions, I don’t know why but we have to look into it. On my first stint I was suffering a lot of understeer with graining on the soft tyres but then in my stop I adjusted the front flap and went onto the harder tyres and stayed on them for both stints. I am happy with the race pace later on though and it is promising for the rest of the season.’
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
‘Some real positives from the weekend, but also some very bad luck for Adrian. He had had a difficult weekend until the race but then made a great start and his race pace was looking really strong, so it’s a real shame we had a hydraulic issue on his car very early on. Giancarlo made a bad start, but after the first stop he showed a really competitive race pace. Ultimately it was disappointing not to get two cars to the finish but overall I think we can look forward to a much better season than the team has had over the last few years.’
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director
‘Overall we have shown a genuine improvement in pace in Malaysia from last season. In 2007 this team was at the back of the grid, this year we were just 0.05secs from getting into Q2. We have bettered our fastest lap by over two seconds, more than any other team on the grid, but more importantly we showed that we are now able to race and are no longer the team bringing up the rear of the field. Unfortunately Adrian once again went out in the early stages through no fault of his own, which sadly denied him the chance to show how he could do under race conditions, but Giancarlo drove an excellent race, setting some very promising times and was able to fight for position. I feel this is highly promising for the rest of the season.’
Monday, March 17, 2008
Karun's GP2 testing before sepang.
Karun Chandhok was in top form in the final GP2 Series tests at the Paul Ricard circuit last week, topping the times on the opening day and finishing fourth in the second. The 24-year-old from Chennai, who is backed by Red Bull, JK Tyre, Amaron and ICSA Logistics, had suffered a trying time in the previous two test sessions with his new iSport International car, as numerous technical issues had hindered his track time.
This time it was different.
"It was a big relief to have a problem-free couple of test days at last," said Karun. "I always believed that I would be on the pace when we had ironed out these teething problems, and I finally got to prove it. The team and I have really been working hard to fix the problems and it was nice to finally get down to working on setup changes. My engineer Richard Selwin and I worked through a good program which has given us a better understanding of the new car for the main series. Bruno ( Senna, team-mate ) and I have also established a good relationship and this I think is helping us as a team."
Despite tricky weather conditions, due to high winds, Chandhok lapped the Paul Ricard circuit in 1m12.717s on Wednesday. He ended the day nearly a tenth of a second clear of Piquet Sports driver Pastor Maldonado with the current GP2 Asia series leader Romain Grosjean in third. On day two on Thursday, the teams had to change the set-up of their cars overnight in order to run in high-downforce-spec. Again, Chandhok adapted well to the first test with the car carrying these settings, lapping a different, more twisty layout of the track in 1m10.210s, which was less than two-tenths off the pace in fourth place.
Karun added: "These two days of testing have put us in a good position ahead of the season-opener. We got through a great amount of work including some qualifying and race simulations as well as some pitstop practices. I do feel that we have taken a step forward with the new GP2/08 car but at the moment it still looks like there are at least 14 drivers who could potentially win races this year."
The main GP2 Series starts in Barcelona on April 26/27 supporting the Spanish Grand Prix. However, Chandhok's next race is the third round of GP2 Asia in Sepang, supporting the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 22/23. Looking ahead to the weekend, he said "I'm really looking forward to Sepang. It's a great circuit and one that I have really enjoyed racing on in the past. It's nice to finish the European tests well as a bit of a confidence boost ahead of next weekend's race. There are normally quite a few Indians who come over to Sepang for the grand prix and we're going to try and give them something extra to cheer about !"
-credit: karun chandhok
This time it was different.
"It was a big relief to have a problem-free couple of test days at last," said Karun. "I always believed that I would be on the pace when we had ironed out these teething problems, and I finally got to prove it. The team and I have really been working hard to fix the problems and it was nice to finally get down to working on setup changes. My engineer Richard Selwin and I worked through a good program which has given us a better understanding of the new car for the main series. Bruno ( Senna, team-mate ) and I have also established a good relationship and this I think is helping us as a team."
Despite tricky weather conditions, due to high winds, Chandhok lapped the Paul Ricard circuit in 1m12.717s on Wednesday. He ended the day nearly a tenth of a second clear of Piquet Sports driver Pastor Maldonado with the current GP2 Asia series leader Romain Grosjean in third. On day two on Thursday, the teams had to change the set-up of their cars overnight in order to run in high-downforce-spec. Again, Chandhok adapted well to the first test with the car carrying these settings, lapping a different, more twisty layout of the track in 1m10.210s, which was less than two-tenths off the pace in fourth place.
Karun added: "These two days of testing have put us in a good position ahead of the season-opener. We got through a great amount of work including some qualifying and race simulations as well as some pitstop practices. I do feel that we have taken a step forward with the new GP2/08 car but at the moment it still looks like there are at least 14 drivers who could potentially win races this year."
The main GP2 Series starts in Barcelona on April 26/27 supporting the Spanish Grand Prix. However, Chandhok's next race is the third round of GP2 Asia in Sepang, supporting the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 22/23. Looking ahead to the weekend, he said "I'm really looking forward to Sepang. It's a great circuit and one that I have really enjoyed racing on in the past. It's nice to finish the European tests well as a bit of a confidence boost ahead of next weekend's race. There are normally quite a few Indians who come over to Sepang for the grand prix and we're going to try and give them something extra to cheer about !"
-credit: karun chandhok
Ferrari failed in Albert Park or Is MCLaren is 2008's winner? An analysis
This is a very big question coming in my mind whether Ferrari failed in Albert completely or marginally. The speed was not even matching to the Renaults.
It was really funny to see both the drivers struggling hard without aids. With massa helping both Coulthard and Webber incidentally both RBR's back to the garage. And then himself went to pit.
The Ferrari engines are heating so much that even ICE MAN cannot cool t down.
The champion himself has so many off track excursions that it was worth watching.
For some time I was wondering what the hell is doing? Then I realised ohh Ferrari is struggling with ECU aids.
It seems McLarens are the 2008's winners. The way both of the drivers performed it was a classic show. Having said that I think we still have BMW as a competitor to McLaren but for how long??
But yes as long as the inexperienced drivers are present it cannot be guaranteed as any of the good drivers e.g. Fischi would thrown out of the track because of some silly driving by some freshers.
Thanks to the help by Nelson send the "GOOD TIMES" car to dust. It was really heart aching to see the Force India F1 car out side the track.
Well it is still a big question to be asked whether Ferrari would be able to race in sych hot weather conditions?
According to reports williams is going for super computers to study the car data for this hot weather conditions. Guies ready for Williams and BMW to give a stiff competition to Ferrari for 2nd and 3rd positions.
The RedBulls are the real surprise. As a team they have developed very much. This is clearly visible from the testing and qualifying reports. The only thing that can save Redbull is some good driving by the freshers and some lady luck to Mark Webber.
Lets see how it goes.
My prediction for Sepang is
1. Mc Laren
2. Ferrari/Renault/RBR
3. Williams/BMW
and rest would be ........
Do post your comments on this.
It was really funny to see both the drivers struggling hard without aids. With massa helping both Coulthard and Webber incidentally both RBR's back to the garage. And then himself went to pit.
The Ferrari engines are heating so much that even ICE MAN cannot cool t down.
The champion himself has so many off track excursions that it was worth watching.
For some time I was wondering what the hell is doing? Then I realised ohh Ferrari is struggling with ECU aids.
It seems McLarens are the 2008's winners. The way both of the drivers performed it was a classic show. Having said that I think we still have BMW as a competitor to McLaren but for how long??
But yes as long as the inexperienced drivers are present it cannot be guaranteed as any of the good drivers e.g. Fischi would thrown out of the track because of some silly driving by some freshers.
Thanks to the help by Nelson send the "GOOD TIMES" car to dust. It was really heart aching to see the Force India F1 car out side the track.
Well it is still a big question to be asked whether Ferrari would be able to race in sych hot weather conditions?
According to reports williams is going for super computers to study the car data for this hot weather conditions. Guies ready for Williams and BMW to give a stiff competition to Ferrari for 2nd and 3rd positions.
The RedBulls are the real surprise. As a team they have developed very much. This is clearly visible from the testing and qualifying reports. The only thing that can save Redbull is some good driving by the freshers and some lady luck to Mark Webber.
Lets see how it goes.
My prediction for Sepang is
1. Mc Laren
2. Ferrari/Renault/RBR
3. Williams/BMW
and rest would be ........
Do post your comments on this.
F1 report on Sepang circuit
Wait for my posting on Sepang for both GP2 and F1. That will include special reflection to GP2 series and Force India f1 team
Till that time enjoy
Till that time enjoy
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A1 gp : Narain is 9th in Future Race
Started 20th from the grid, The fastest indian managed to get 2 points for Team India. This is a superb performance having started just the bottom of the grid ahead of Team china. There are some great driving skills also shown by Team Ireland which won the Feature race.
Team GBR and USA also showed some fantastic race at the end.
Overall good performance by Karthikeyan and the team which did some excellent pit stops ro come ahed of some other teams.
Will post videos and photographs later.
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