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Jaguar hybrid cars due in 2013-14

Jaguar will launch its own hybrid vehicles soon after Land Rover, CAR can confirm. Parent company Jaguar Land Rover is developing battery-assisted hybrid versions for both brands but its strategy puts part-electric Land Rovers first on the launchpad in 2013.Hybrid Jaguars – set to include the XJ and XF, but eventually every model – are therefore likely to be on the market by 2013-2014, using a similar eight-speed ZF hybrid transmission to petrol-electric BMWs.The staggered roll-out of battery Jags and Land Rovers makes sense: heavy 4x4s have come in the firing line from green protestors who label them Chelsea Tractors. Hybrid Land Rovers will trim emissions and – in plug-in hybrid mode – enable even big bulky Range Rovers to drive in zero-emissions mode into central urban areas emitting nothing more unsaintly than an electric whir.So which Jaguars will go hybrid first?It's likely that the largest models such as the XJ will receive the hybrid power packs first; large cars reap the greater benefit and can more easily swallow the additional cost, put at around £10,000 in today's money.JLR's Midlands engineering bases in Whitley and Gaydon now employ 100 engineers in the expanding hybrid powertrain business unit launched 18 months ago.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante revealed at Pebble Beach

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante revealed at Pebble Beach (Photo credit: Kimball Studios, courtesy Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance) 2013 is a big year for Aston Martin – its 100th Anniversary – so Aston Martin at Pebble Beach this year is more than worth a look as Aston seeks to make a suitavly impressive spectacle at North America’s most prestigious car weekend. Top of the list of goodies – perhaps – for Pebble is the reveal this weekend of the convertible version of the new Vanquish – the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante – which gets a world public debut in front of the appreciative, and knowledgeable, crowd at Pebble. They’ll appreciate how clever Aston has been with the new Vanquish Volante which, despite using technology that’s really now past its sell-by date, they’ve managed to produce a convertible that’s incredibly stiff (certainly in comparison to the DBS Volante), beautiful to look at and performs as well as the Coupe.

Range Rover Sport sets desert crossing record

A RANGE Rover Sport has set a new record for the fastest crossing of one of the harshest desert environments on Earth. The new off-roader, which was standard apart from an additional protection plate under the chassis, crossed the Empty Quarter in the Middle East between Wadi Adda Wasir in Saudi Arabia and the border of the United Arab Emirates in 10 hours and 22 minutes at an average speed of 51.87mph. Covering 530 miles en route to the new record, the Range Rover Sport was driven by veteran Dakar rally expert Moi Torrallardona, a man who understands everything there is to know about driving large off-road vehicles in demanding desert conditions.