JCB Head Wants Jaguar; Company Breaks Diesel Record

JC Bamford Excavators may be big in building things in the U.K., but they're also big this week in top-speed runs. The fastest driver in history is now the fastest driver of a diesel car, courtesy JCB. A British team headed by world land speed record holder Andy Green has shattered the benchmark for an oil-burning vehicle in its JCB Dieselmax. The vehicle, a streamliner finished in JCB's historic yellow paint, hit an average of 350.092 mph over two runs at the Bonneville Salt Flats. That destroyed the old record by more than 100 mph. The car is powered by two state-of-the-art diesel units developed in conjunction with Ricardo.

The head of the company has even bigger things in mind for the company-potentially, ownership of Jaguar. Sir Anthony Bamford told reporters yesterday that he believes Jaguar is an undervalued asset and would be interested in taking it off Ford's hands, so long as it were split off from Land Rover. "I have expressed an interest in the purchase of Jaguar because I believe it is a very strong brand with great potential, which at this moment I believe is not being realized," Bamford is quoted in a release. Ford has said publicly its turnaround plan would be accelerated and that all options were open, including alliances and the sale of some of its brands.

Preview: 2007 Land Rover LR2 by Marty Padgett (6/26/2006)
Land Rover steers its compact-SUV hopes in a bigger, better direction.

Ford Thinking of Going Private?

Whether Ford will take itself private is another question entirely, one raised again on Tuesday by USA Today. As TheCarConnection reported earlier this year, some analysts have suggested the Ford family might be interested in taking the company private by buying out shareholders, in an effort to reduce the focus on the company's business dealings and financials. On Tuesday USA Today quoted a source inside the company that said the Ford family was "willing to look at anything" to speed the company's restructuring along, which could include going private in a deal that could cost as little as $14 billion.

Ford, Ghosn Chatting Up Alliance? by TCC Team (8/23/2006)
Bill Ford calls Carlos Ghosn, says sick brands and family control are in play.

Toyota Cutting New Products?

Toyota may be slowing down the number of new products it is developing in response to an increased number of recalls, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition Thursday. The report says the slowdown might only equal six months or so in the company's product cycle, but would be a major acknowledgement that even the world's richest car company may be expanding too fast. The paper cites several major, recent recalls including those on Tundra pickups and the Prius hybrid as influencing the discussion at Toyota. Vehicle lines that could be affected include the Sienna minivan, Avalon sedan and Camry Solara coupe. Last year, Toyota recalled 2.38 million vehicles in the U.S., or about 120,000 more than it sold in the year.

2007 Lexus LS460 by Paul A. Eisenstein (8/23/2006)
Breakthrough or near-miss?

New GM Diesels Coming in 2010

A day after Ford announced its new Super Duty trucks would come with clean diesel engines, General Motors is promising the same for a version of its pickups due sometime near the end of the decade. The new diesel engine would be 50-state legal, the company said in a release, and will get fuel economy 25 percent better than today's gas-powered truck engines. The new diesel will be a dual overhead-cam design, with four valves per cylinder, and will take up the same space underhood as a gas engine. It will also sport emissions-cleanup technology like urea treatment and particulate filters, to help meet more stringent emissions requirements taking effect.

All About Green Machines by TCC Team (8/21/2006)
The basics - and more - about earth-friendly vehicles

Volvo Has Sporty New Micro Mini - Car, That Is

While some European SUVs are getting bigger - for example, the BMW X5 - others are getting smaller. Over eight million TV viewers across the continent watched this tiny Volvo XC90 playing a key role at the European Athletics Championships. The radio-controlled machine collected javelins, discuses and hammers from where they landed, then ferried the equipment back to the competitors at the other end of the stadium. Staged in Gothenburg, Sweden - where the carmaker has a base - the 2-hp vehicle is capable of a speedy 12 mph.-Richarrd Yarrow

FROM THE SOURCE headlines from the latest press releases

ArvinMeritor Announces Key Executive Appointments within Its Global Operations

Name	Symbol	Last	Change
Autobytel, Inc.	ABTL	2.90	+0.02 (+0.69%)
Autoliv Inc.	ALV	56.27	+0.13 (+0.23%)
AutoNation Inc.	AN	19.02	-0.20 (-1.04%)
ArvinMeritor Inc.	ARM	14.48	+0.03 (+0.21%)
American Axle & Mfr. Holdings Inc.	AXL	15.59	+0.05 (+0.32%)
Ballard Power Systems Inc.	BLDP	6.18	+0.04 (+0.65%)
BorgWarner Inc.	BWA	55.23	-0.70 (-1.25%)
Cummins Inc.	CMI	117.60	-1.84 (-1.54%)
DaimlerChrysler AG (ADR)	DCX	52.21	-0.25 (-0.48%)
Dura Automotive Systems	DRRA	0.43	-0.01 (-2.05%)
Eaton Corporation	ETN	65.72	+0.20 (+0.31%)
Ford Motor Company	F	7.76	0.00 (0.00%)
General Motors Corporation	GM	29.88	-0.30 (-0.99%)
Gentex Corporation	GNTX	14.38	-0.13 (-0.90%)
Goodyear Tire & Rubber	GT	11.73	-0.12 (-1.01%)
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (ADR)	HMC	33.37	-0.27 (-0.80%)
Johnson Controls Inc.	JCI	71.09	-0.90 (-1.25%)
Lear Corporation	LEA	19.23	-0.18 (-0.93%)
Magna International Inc.	MGA	70.40	0.00 (0.00%)
Motorola Inc.	MOT	22.75	+0.11 (+0.48%)
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (ADR)	NSANY	22.23	-0.11 (-0.49%)
Sonic Automotive Inc.	SAH	21.47	-0.05 (-0.23%)
Siemens AG	SI	84.17	+0.02 (+0.02%)
Sirius Satellite Radio	SIRI	4.06	+0.02 (+0.50%)
Toyota Motor Corporation (ADR)	TM	108.31	-1.90 (-1.72%)
TRW Automotive Holdings	TRW	24.48	-0.22 (-0.89%)
Tower Automotive Inc.	TWRAQ.PK	0.095	-0.015 (-13.64%)
United Auto Group Inc.	UAG	20.30	-0.33 (-1.60%)
Visteon Corporation	VC	8.13	-0.12 (-1.45%)
XM Satellite Radio Hold.	XMSR	12.899	-0.001 (-0.01%)