Ford set to announce sale of Jaguar, Land Rover to Tata

Could the protracted sale of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford to Tata finally be coming to an end? After learning last week that Tata has secured the financing required to make the deal possible, reports are coming from London's Financial Times suggesting that the official announcement of the sale, reportedly worth $2 billion, could come as soon as on Wednesday, when Jaguar workers return to work after enjoying their Easter holiday. This sale, of course, follows up Ford's sale of Aston Martin, leaving a lonely Volvo as the only company left of Ford's Premium Automotive Group.

Details of the deal include Tata's assurance that they will continue to buy engines from Ford for Jaguar and Land Rover and Ford's continuing to contribute to the pension fund of both marques.

Audi Q7 hybrid won't be making it to the U.S

While premium hybrid SUVs haven't proven their worth in the U.S. market yet, automakers will have a good fix on whether or not offering a gasoline-electric hybrid 'ute is good business sense in the coming years. Audi has apparently already made the call, and after studying the business case and watching the U.S. dollar tank, it's decided that the Q7 hybrid SUV is not bound for U.S. shores.

"It was a very hard car to make the numbers work," according to Johan de Nysschen, Audi's brand head in the U.S. "We will not do the hybrid Q7 as a conventional product offering," de Nysschen continued, saying only that a few hybrid Q7s will make the trek across the pond and find their way into the hands of "commercial" entities.

However, all is not lost for a fuel-sipping version of Audi's land yacht, with the eminent arrival of the diesel Q7 in the next year or so, the SUV will spearhead Audi's diesel offerings, followed by an oil-burning A4 around the turn of the decade.