Pac Racing Hot Rod Series Valve Spring Pac-1934 on 2040-parts.com

Jaguar Land Rover profits up 34 per cent to £1.5 billion

Just four years after Tata took over what looked like a basket case in Jaguar Land Rover, profits have hit £1.5 billion. It’s become the norm for Jaguar Land Rover to report ever improving profits and sales, but the news that JLR made profits of £1.5 billion in the year to end of March 2012 is still amazing. Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata four years ago as it unwound its faltering luxury car brands, and as recently as 2009 JLR were almost begging for government help to keep going.

Spectre 341 run video: Respecting the hill

Palms sweaty, check. Stomach in knots, check. Flagman in view from the driver's seat of a 556-hp Cadillac CTS-V wagon, check.

New Peugeot 208 production cut as sales disappoint

Peugeot is cutting back on production of the new 208 as its sales fail to reach expectations, just six months on from launch. It’s not enough when Europe is ion the midst of an economic crisis and car buyers are polarised between ‘budget’ cars that offer more for less than mainstream offerings and ‘Premium’ models that are bought on the back of a preconceived notion of more kudos. That leaves car makers like Peugeot (and Renault, Citroen, Vauxhall, Ford, Opel, Fiat…) between a rock and a hard place, unable – or unwilling – to compete with the offerings from Korea and saddled with a brand that doesn’t have the ‘class’ of an Audi or a BMW or a Mercedes or even a VW.