	david999
	View My AgentPage

Suggestions to Make Jaguar Relevant Again

david999 submitted on 08/19/2007 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 8:00 AM
from: www.thestar.com

[21] user comments | category: Misc News

Print this Page |

Digg It |

del.icio.us

Suggestions to Make Jaguar Relevant Again

Jaguar needs to rebuild around just three models: a top-of-the-line sedan priced in the $250,000 range, a slightly racier sedan priced at $165,000, and a sport coupe/convertible at about the same price. As it happens, a gorgeous Jag high-performance XKR couple/convertible will soon be in showrooms. The XKR takes its design cues from the Jag E-Type manufactured between 1961 and 1975, one of the best-looking cars ever produced.

Jaguar also needs to return to the racing circuit, its natural home. Jaguar won its first big race in 1936, and first gained world renown with its astonishing run of triumphs in the 1950s. It needs to recruit high-profile drivers to polish the right kind of image, and develop an ancillary line of Jaguar-branded merchandise. Then again, it could simply pry Luca di Montezemolo, 59, away from Ferrari SpA. Montezemolo has turned super-premium auto marketing into an art form. Read Article

Comments:

Images hosted in your AgentSpace can now be posted in the comments section using the following syntax (case matters):
[img]IMAGE URL[/img]
Example: [img]http://agent004.myautospies.com/users/150/Sample-Gallery/sample1.JPG[/img]

TauronB2G - 8/19/2007 4:35:12 PM

+2 Boost

He's talking canadian money or euro's right?
T

reply to this comment

TauronB2G - 8/19/2007 4:43:35 PM

+3 Boost

Okay I read the story... IMO what Ford needs to do with Jaguar is hold on to it and reap the investment made in the XF. Develop new engines like the upcoming 5 liter and stop relying on superchargers that who's output still leave Jaguar power figures barely competitive with other makers naturally aspirated engines. Next they need to become Fords tour de force with technology and to share development costs across the PAG range so that the costs are shared and the product can filter down from the brands. In the styling department they have to quit relying exclusively on designs from 40 years ago and to come up with new and even controversial design language for th enew cars. They need a halo car to create interest in the brand. Lastly quit letting bean counters run the brand. Luxury marques cost what they cost and people who can afford them buy them. People who can't aspire to them. Quit trying to make a car for every budget. Make a great car and charge accordingly. If the Koreans and the Japanese can do it why can't Jaguar?
T

chewy - 8/19/2007 4:37:39 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

Jaguar doesn not equal Bentley. Jaguar can't charge Bentley money.

reply to this comment

cdoke - 8/19/2007 4:57:21 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

You know Jaguar has charged significantly more than $250,000 for a car before. Most notably certain $980,000 and ...what was is... around $650,000 supercars.

The U.S. manages to get the cheaper Jaguars, we don't get the Daimler, we didn't get the supercars- they weren't legal even in first gear at the time- although now you can fill out some paperwork for an exception.

cdoke - 8/19/2007 5:04:48 PMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

Now I am not saying that Jaguar is the equal of Bentley incidentally simply that Jaguar HAS charged more than Bentley money before.

cdoke - 8/19/2007 5:19:28 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

Slight correction on the minutia of that point;

The XJR-15 carried a $960,000 original price tag, and the XJ 220 was $625,000- that does not change the point though.

cdoke - 8/19/2007 4:50:15 PMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

I dispute the accuracy of parts of this article.

“If anything, buying a $149,000 Bentley Continental that shares a platform with the $240,000 Bentley Arnage is a selling point for buyers of the less pricey vehicle”

Actually, that is wrong. The Continental Series vehicles are all build on the VW D platform. To even suggest, much less spread such an inaccuracy is heresy. The Arnage has its own platform.

“Total volume has already collapsed from 120,000 vehicles in 2004 to 75,000 last year.”

I honestly don’t know where these numbers are coming from. I have maintained a spreadsheet that shows Jaguar sales as far back as July 2005 in order to track the impact of new vehicle offerings. The CYTD figures reported in the Ford Sales report for December 2005 shows total sales at 30,424 and 20,683 for 2006.

“The $35,000 X-Type soon accounted for by far the largest portion of Jaguar sales – making the company dependent on it – yet it never sold nearly enough vehicles to achieve profitability.”

The X-type is Jaguar’s poorest selling vehicle since the beginning of this year. Total sales as of the end of July 2007 were 1,939: S-type (2,305), XJ (2,500), XK (2,853). Jaguar’s sales structure is a complete inversion with the most expensive vehicles selling the best.

reply to this comment

cdoke - 8/19/2007 7:20:47 PMView My AgentSpace

+4 Boost

And another thing...

"Jaguar currently has six models,"

What? Jaguar has 4 models, and in no way of splitting up within those four models, by R designation, or the Super V8, nor any other even slightly rational method, do you arrive at 6.

Lexus - 8/19/2007 4:56:47 PM

-4 Boost

Yeah!...right? $165k-$250k for a Jaguar, this is a joke right? I know Jaguar has heritage and stuff but with that kind of money I can a Ferrari, Lambo, Bentley or an Aston Martin instead.

reply to this comment

IS3andME - 8/19/2007 7:14:43 PM

+1 Boost

Two Words: F-Type. Jaguar needs to build the F-type, and used it as a Boxster/Cayman and BMW M Coupe fighter. They can use the new inline six ( the front looks like it was made for a I6.) Or make it a mid-engine car with a V6 (there were mules of that running around)
It was Jacque Nasser that said that Jaguar would be stupid to NOT build it...then he was fired.

This will boost Jag sales and lower the buying age, most people who buy XJ's and XK's are only driving to the golf course and back, using AARP points.

reply to this comment

cdoke - 8/19/2007 7:22:15 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

"It was Jacque Nasser that said that Jaguar would be stupid to NOT build it...then he was fired."

He also approved the X-type.

Nasser is a troglodyte with the approximate intelligence of an ant.

bmwdrvr - 8/19/2007 7:55:55 PM

+1 Boost

the thing is i totally agree they should have created the f type. the problem with Ford is that they create bad cars, and when they dont sell they ditch them instead of figuring out why. the x type had several problems that would make someone not want one, cheap ford parts bin interior pieces, low tech awd, old fashioned styling doesnt really work on a compact, and it was priced with the most expensive cars in its class the 3 series, and c class if not more while offering alot less in the way of technology, quality, and other things than the class's value leaders like the tl, and g35. the same with the s type. you cant create cars that arent competitive than wonder why they have horrible sales. and not just that but the X type was Jaguars best selling car. and it had horrible sales. its like Ford puts on a blindfold and a deaf ear to the industry, class leaders, and the rest of the competition and starts creating cars.

bmwdrvr - 8/19/2007 7:50:25 PM

+1 Boost

the best position for jaguar in the market would be where maserati is right now not quite ultra luxury, but above mercedes, bmw, and lexus. so between say bmw/benz and bentley/rolls royce. creat more high profit low volume niche vehicles, and focus more than just styling, like interior quality, resale, and techonlogy. Jaguar isn't a brand for everyone i think Fords problem was trying to make it into one. another thing that bothers me is why is that Jaguar seems to be ditching its heritage, now isnt the time to totally to reinvent the brand into a new company when they have so much heritage, no leaping cats, no traditional british colors. mercedes, nor bmw have to run from their past and heritage to sell cars. just start making good ones that combine heritage, and what jaguar was into what jaguar should be.

reply to this comment

cdoke - 8/19/2007 9:52:31 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

bmwdrvr,

"the best position for jaguar in the market would be where maserati is right now not quite ultra luxury, but above mercedes, bmw, and lexus."

From what I have read, I believe that they are trying to do just that. The new XJ has been described by Jaguar as a "Better developed Quattroporte" and the top of the line one it has been stated may reach $150,000. Whether or not that will turn out to be the case obviously is yet to be seen.

I am pretty sure however, that Jaguars will be getting more expensive. All of the R models will have their engine replaced with the new 5.0 Liter V8. The current engine is supposed to remain in the lineup however, so I would imagine that they would take the opporitunity to increase the prices. I could be wrong on that, and to be quite frank about it I am not exactly sure how they are going to work the transition.

I think it will be interesting to see the XF lineup. I would imagine that the SV8 version, which has the same engine as the XJR and XKR, will be priced where the current S-tyep R is (~$65,000) so the 5.0 R version will catch a premium over that.

Personally, I would like to see the return of the V12 top the Jaguar lineup in some place.

cdoke - 8/19/2007 10:35:11 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

LOL.

reply to this comment

S4cabriofoxone - 8/19/2007 11:50:54 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

I don't think Jaguar needs to leap $150,000 upmarket to remain "relevant." I think that the best chance at relevancy is to create desirable cars that your "average" millionaire couple can afford. Take the new XF. It looks very, very sexy, especially for a sedan. Its base price won't be more than $65K or $70K. It will probably do to the mid-size class what the new S-Class has done to the large sedan class: annihilate it. What have they got to lose?

You could call me biased, because I'm very interested in its place in our garage. But I don't care.

reply to this comment

S4cabriofoxone - 8/19/2007 11:51:36 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

Actually, it may be less than $60K, so it doesn't interfere with the XJ8.