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Porsche Macan to get a bolder look before launch

The Porsche Macan – the baby Cayenne – is to get a new, bold look before it launches in 2014, to make it better able to compete against the Range Rover Evoque. The Porsche Macan, Porsche’s baby Cayenne based on the underpinnings of the Audi Q5, is a big deal for Porsche. Having discovered that an SUV could revive their fortunes after they launched the Cayenne a decade ago, the smaller, lower-priced Macan should give both Porsche’s sales and profits a big boost.

Jaguar Land Rover raise £500 million to fund expansion

Jaguar Land Rover raise £500 million Jaguar Land Rover is raising £500 million on the bond market to fund its expansion, including new models and new facilities. Hot on the heels of the Jaguar Land Rover joint venture deal with Chery in China comes the news that Jaguar has dipped in to the private bond market to raise £500 million to help with its bold and bullish plans to make JLR a major world player in the premium vehicle sector. JLR plans to invest £1.5 billion a year on expansion and is making sure its coffers can cope by issuing £500 million of senior notes due in 2020, with the net proceeds of the bonds being used for general corporate purposes.

2014 Subaru XV – less choice, more refinement

The 2014 Subaru XV (pictured) gets a bit of a tweak The Subaru XV arrived in the UK in 2012, and it’s a perfectly able and reasonably-priced compact crossover from Subaru. But within a year of launching the XV Subaru decided to inject a bit more appeal in to the XV with a price cut of £2,300 across the range and now, not more than six months later, they’re fiddling with the XV range again. The 2.0 litre petrol XV gets new valve-train components to cut engine noise and revised suspension, with extra soundproofing improving NVH levels across the range, a revised power steering system for added stability and feel  and thicker and reshaped suspension lower arm and extra reinforcement around the base of the A-Pillar for better crash performance.