Engineers at JE Engineering have supercharged a Defender to produce 460bhp of power, accommodating a Jaguar V8 engine amongst the tranmission system and new ceramic brakes to ensure the vehicle will actually stop once it’s going. The Head of Communications at JE Engineering, Colin Musgrove, commented:

“The technical ingenuity and craftsmanship of the English Midlands is legendary. For over 30 years JE have flown the flag for that heritage in Coventry, the cradle of the British Motor Industry. The “Zulu” illustrates what we can do to promote British Motor Engineering, even in the face of world recession. Yes, the Supercharged “Zulu” is outrageous! Yes, they are intended primarily as extreme fun vehicles to draw attention to the fact that JE and others like us can and will continue to keep alive the proud traditions of British engineering. However, the “Zulu” is the precursor of diesel and hybrid versions which are intended for fast-response vehicles in extreme terrain. So you see, the “Zulu” has a great deal of method in its madness!”

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ — Land Rover North America announced this weekend during its annual Retailer Breakfast Meeting at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention in New Orleans, that the company reached a historic milestone recently when a Range Rover Sport Supercharged became the company’s 500,000th vehicle sold in the United States. The Range Rover Sport was sold by Land Rover Cerritos, a retailer in Southern California.

“Reaching this milestone demonstrates the strength of the Land Rover brand and is a result of a dedicated and passionate retailer network,” said Chris Marchand, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Land Rover North America. “The Land Rover model line-up has undergone a complete revitalization and reaching this achievement shows the growth we have experienced over the past four years. It took us ten years to sell the first 100,000 vehicles and we have sold the last 100,000 since July of 2006.”

Land Rover North America began retailing vehicles on March 16, 1987, importing its first Range Rover into the United States and single-handedly creating the luxury sports utility vehicle segment. The company reached its first major milestone of 100,000 vehicles sold by September 1997 and 250,000 vehicles by December 2002.

Land Rover is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary globally and offers an outstanding vehicle line-up that includes the highly acclaimed Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Land Rover LR3 and Land Rover LR2.

Since 1948 Land Rover has been manufacturing authentic 4×4s that represent true ‘breadth of capability’ across the model range. Defender, LR2 (Freelander 2), LR3 (Discovery 3), Range Rover Sport and Range Rover each define the world’s 4×4 sectors, with 78% of this model range exported to over 140 countries. Land Rover employs 8,500 people and supports a further 40,000 jobs supported in the supply chain.

Land Rover takes its responsibility to the environment seriously. Emissions have been cut with all new models and, together with Jaguar, it is investing British Pounds Sterling 700m on technology specifically aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Also, since September 2006, carbon dioxide generated by Land Rover manufacturing activities and UK customer vehicle use has been balanced through an industry leading offset program run by Climate Care.

Land Rover has approached agencies regarding its global advertising account, which is currently held by RKCR/Y&R, a WPP agency.

It is not known if the discussions will also affect below-the-line agency Wunderman, or media agency MindShare, both also under the WPP umbrella.

It is unclear whether or not Land Rover will call an official review. Mark Foster, Land Rover corporate affairs manager: ‘Our global creative account has been with Y&R since 2000 and we have no plans to put out the account for pitch, but as usual we will evaluate all agency arrangements to make sure we are getting the best quality and value for money.’

Business secretary Lord Mandelson is currently holding talks with Tata, the India-based owner of Land Rover and Jaguar about a £1bn support deal. The talks are part of wider discussion with the Treasury on a package to assist the car industry. Tata bought Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford in June of last year, spending £1.15bn.

Land Rover suffered dwindling car sales in 2008, with sales down 30% year on year. 46,552 new Land Rover models were sold in 2007 compared with 32,567 in 2008, according to the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Taken from brandrepublic.com