Jaguar Land Rover – the aluminium future

Jaguar has been extolling the virtues of the Jaguar XJ’s aluminium construction for years (or ‘Aloominum’, in deference to our colonial cousins). In fact, it’s not just the new Jaguar XJ that benefits from aluminium construction – the previous XJ has had an aluminium construction since 2003.

The benefits of aluminium construction are clear. The weight saving (up to 40% over a comparable steel structure) improve economy, reduce emissions and improve performance. All of which are the Holy Grail for car makers in these constrained, Eco times.

So it’s no big surprise that Ratan Tata has come out and said that before long all Jaguar Land Rover models will feature aluminium construction. That trend is already clear with the Jaguar XJ and XK and, to a slightly lesser extent, with the Jaguar XF. But it’s the next generation of Land Rover models that will benefit from this move. Due in 2012, they are expected to feature an aluminium chassis and significant weight savings over the current models – up to 500 lbs.

But that’s not the only direction Jaguar are heading. There are plans afoot for a Hybrid version of the new Jaguar XJ, and Land Rover are expected to have a hybrid version with an electric axle in the new compact Land Rover – the Land Rover LRX.

But will Jaguar Land Rover be building their future cars in the UK, or will they end up moving production to India in light of the UK Government’s procrastination over loan guarantees?

We’ll see.