Automobile News

As the world’s largest automobile market, China is home to a burgeoning luxury car industry, as wealthy Chinese splurge on elite and high-end autos. Indeed, the rising sales of luxury vehicles in China stand in sharp contrast to much of the Western world, where many of these brands are exhibiting declines. Now Jaguar, which sold 3,500 vehicles in China last year, is looking to vastly increase its presence in China by introducing a Jaguar XJ model sporting a smaller 3.0 V6 engine at the Shanghai 2011 Motor Show.

Avoiding the import tax

In China, cars with smaller engines make up roughly 90% of the luxury market and for good reason: there’s a hefty 85% import tax on any vehicle with a larger than 3.0 litre engine. This effectively doubles the price of a Jaguar XJ V8, for instance. The new XJ V6, on the other hand, cleverly avoids this impossibly large tariff and is therefore available for nearly half the price at around £100,000 on the Chinese market.

Enhanced interior with more leg room

The Jaguar XJ V6 also caters to the Chinese market in a few other ways. For starters, many luxury car buyers in China prefer to be chauffeured around in their elite vehicles, rather than drive, and accordingly the XJ V6 has had extra leg room added in the rear seat area, along with a more luxurious car interior. Even the suspension of the car has been optimised to the local conditions and the 3.0 V6 model also uses an automatic six speed transmission system.

With this V6 car model, Jaguar hope to make major inroads in the Chinese market and such a strategy is critical to Jaguar’s success, as the company’s global product marketing director explains in the video above. Of course, before you think the Jaguar V6 XJ is only catered towards Chinese buyers, the engine will also be sold in the Middle East and Russia as well.

The excitement of welcoming 2009 can be seen everywhere. So what are your plans for the New Year? I bet you have lot, but are you also planning to buy a new car in 2009? Well, even if you don’t have any such plans, read on to discover the hottest cars that are likely to hit the market in the coming year.

So let’s take a tour of the top eight cars that will rock the automobile market in the arriving year:

Volkswagen Golf MkVI: Made to lead the hottest car lists of 2009, the Golf MkVI is expected to mark its presence in January. As you might have guessed, it is an improved version of the earlier Golf.

Toyota Prius: Likely to be seen in September 2009, the new Prius promises to hit 75mpg and a mileage of 100g/km. sounds good! Sp would you not like to take a look at this compact yet powerful model?

Ford Ka: Inspired from Fiat 500, the Ka will carry forward Fiat’s gene. You can look forward to buy this car if you are interested in saving more bugs.

Abarth 500: Assume it to the best creation of Abarth. Bold style, freezing swiftness, and easy handling are the major highlights of this upcoming model. Want to go for a test drive? You can go for it in February 2009.

Audi A1: The stunning looks might assist Audi A1 to outshine the charm of MINI. Moreover, it is a mild hybrid model that offers 92g/km. check it out in September next year.

Alfa Romeo MiTo: It is charming…it is hot! Yeah, it is the new Alfa car that is economical and more practical. Test its calibre in January.

Jaguar XJ: It won’t be wrong to call it the most far-reaching XJ model so far. It gives you an option to choose your fuel preference from the diesel or petrol. However, you will have to wait till the end of 2009 to see it on roads.

Ford Focus RS: Revolutionary and amazing! That’s how this car can be defined in simple words. You can expect as much as 300bph from this model. We will get to see it in March 2009.

The XKR-S coupe is coming onto the market in August for a price of £70,995. The rear-wheel drive coupe is propelled by the 306 kW/416 HP V8 compressor motor from the previous top XKR model. However, the XKR-S manages a top speed of 173 mph that is 18 mph faster than its predecessor. The newer model also possesses a lower bodywork, reworked steering, and stronger brakes. The light modifications to the front and rear of the car, as well as the 20 inch wheels, distinguish this extra fast model from the regular edition visually.