Car Throttle

Thank God Jaguar still has a sense of humor. They've had a rough go at it lately - after all, they were tossed aside just when things were getting good with Ford.  Jag's now owned by Indian manufacturer Tata, which is pretty ironic when you think about it.  They're doing better than ever these days product-wise, at least: a lot of enthusiast rags have been proclaiming the new XFR to be the reigning king of heavyweight sport sedans, like the M5 and E63.  But sales haven't been pretty, and Jag's never really sold well in the first place. So, in what I think can only be construed as a deliberate attempt to bring a smile to people's faces in these glum times, this is what Jaguar's bringing

As you probably know, Rolls-Royce had a record year in 2008, selling more cars and making more profits then ever. Of course they want to continue that as much as possible. The amazing thing is, according to Chief Executive Tom Purves, Rolls-Royce expects sales for 2009 to remain flat in comparison to 2008. In the midst of a severe economic downturn where every automaker has been hit, that is extremely impressive. The Phantom has been doing very well for itself, with the new variants Coupe and Drophead Coupe helping to increase sales in 2008 from 1010 to 1212 units, a 20 percent increase. For future growth though, Rolls-Royce is counting on the Ghost to grow the brand. At the Reuters Global Luxury Summit in London,Tom Purves commented on the world

Baby Roller, RR4, 200EX; the upcoming smaller Rolls-Royce has been called by many different names in it's short lifetime. Rolls-Royce has put naming speculation to rest though at the Shanghai Auto Show by announcing the official name. Rolls-Royce Ghost. Well, there you have it, that's the name. Not Silver Ghost, just Ghost. Kind of a break from tradition from a company that usually refers to it's cars with longer, more illustrious names. Silver Ghost has a lot of history behind it and that probably played a big part in the name choice. Ghost sounds more modern then Silver Ghost though, and I think it fits in with what R0lls-Royce is trying to do with the new model. The announcement was made by Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves at the company press conference at the