Indian-owned automaker Jaguar has joined forces with Formula One racing group Williams to produce a British-made commercial model of their hybrid C-X75 supercar, the pair announced here on May 6.
"I'm proud today to confirm that we will build, we will launch and we will sell a road-going version of the C-X75," said Adrian Hallmark, global brand director of Jaguar Cars. Jaguar, which was bought by India's top vehicle maker Tata Motors three years ago, had unveiled the prototype C-X75 supercar at the Paris Car Show last September.
The C-X75, which is designed for "supercar performance" with help from Williams Formula One, is an exclusive model which uses a mixture of internal combustion power and electric motors. The car, which is equipped with a traditional petrol engine, two electric motors and four-wheel drive, and will have a top speed of more than 200 miles per hour (mph), and accelerate from standstill to 60mph in less than three seconds.
Jaguar will manufacture just of 250 of the commercial C-X75s, which produce less than 99g/km of CO2 emissions. The company added that the car would help create more than 100 highly skilled jobs in Britain.
However, the supercar will also carry a super price tag, starting at £700,000 (US$1.15 million) production will run from 2013 to 2015.
"This project is proof that engineering is alive and kicking in this country, this is a showcase of what can be done in this country if we can combine our strengths," said Carl-Peter Forster, CEO of Tata Motors.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
