First the U.S. gave car companies a bailout, and now the UK has joined in to keep the vehicle industry from dying a horrible death. The UK government announced this morning that it will contribute £27 million (over $37 million) to help Jaguar produce a green Range Rover at its Merseyside, UK plant. The contribution won't cover the full £400 million needed to develop the car, but it will give Jaguar a much-needed boost.

The Range Rover's specs are still a bit shady, but we do know that it is based on the LRX Concept Vehicle that was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January. The concept version used a 2-liter turbo diesel hybrid engine, and got an average of 50 MPG. The commercial Range Rover is expected to get a whopping 60 MPG. And while even the smallest Range Rover is significantly bigger than, say, a Prius, Jaguar claims that its new car is the smallest and lightest Rover ever produced.

So why not just stick with a smaller hybrid? As anyone who gets multiple feet of snow dumped on them every year knows, sometimes you just need a big car.

[Via the UK Daily Telegraph]