Report: Future Jags, Land Rover Could Boast Bimmer Baby Daddy
Eager to reduce R&D costs, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW forged a cross-channel bond earlier this summer, but the increasingly cozy relationship between the Anglo-German rivals likely won’t end with the mere sharing of electric drive units and internal combustion engines.
A number of JLR vehicles poised to drop from the product pipeline could come to fruition thanks to a piece of Bimmer architecture.
According to Autocar, BMW’s front-drive FAAR platform could find a home beneath a trio of models expected to bow in the middle of the coming decade: two small Jaguar crossovers and an entry-level Land Rover. While the lower-rung Land Rover — potentially a return of the Freelander — and platform-sharing pact are merely a rumor at this point, sources tell Autocar that a brace of small Jag crossovers are indeed on the way, pending an official go-ahead from top brass.
One of those crossovers would be a sportier, coupe-ified variant of the other, the story goes. Anyone who’s followed Jag’s trajectory over the past few years would see this as a no-brainer, given the market’s sudden dislike for the brand’s sinking sedans.
After announcing a deal to partner on electric drivelines, word arose that JLR would source a variety of gasoline and hybrid engines from its German rival as a way of reducing investment in its Ingenium engine line. The automaker told Wards Auto that no plans exist to outsource its own four- and six-cylinder engines.
Found beneath the new BMW 1 Series, the FAAR platform was developed with a variety of propulsion types in mind, making it a versatile sled for future vehicles of varying greenness. With Europe — and especially the UK — ditching diesel in droves, any new Jag or Land Rover model would need to incorporate serious fuel-saving technologies. The cost savings of a partnership become clear when you consider JLR’s need for both electrified engine tech and a new platform to handle models positioned at the bottom of its lineup.
The British automaker lost nearly half a billion dollars in the last quarter as it seeks to adapt to a vastly different auto landscape than it faced at the decade’s dawn.
[Image: Jaguar Land Rover]
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Who stole whose design? I scrolled too fast and thought this would be an article of the upcoming Escape
BMW are selling their oil-guzzling N63 V8 turbo to JLR to replace their own supercharged 5.0l V8. Of course, BMW say they've fixed the oil-drinking habit after a decade, but would you really believe them? A chain drive to the overhead cam defeats those boys comprehensively when the guide wears out like in the N20 turbo four they stuck in their cars from 2011 to 2015. https://bimmerlife.com/2019/06/01/updated-n63-v8-focus-of-new-oil-consumption-lawsuit/ Best of luck, JLR! The four and six cylinder inline engines ARE the JLR Ingenium engines. I've never read that JLR intended to make a V8 Ingenium, so they're buying an off-the-shelf dud from Germany instead. Cheaper for JLR not to have another engine development program, and the customer with that much spare loot to buy an RR Autobiography couldn't care less about an oil problem - their old X6GT German Ground Pounder assembled in the USA with domestic and foreign parts was the same.