Jag: we got it wrong
As the mythical new baby Jag is confirmed both parties involved in the last one say 'oops'
Both companies are paying close attention to the lessons learned as they separately take a crack at the 3 Series sector. Ford with the super-luxury 'Top Ghia' Vignale trim on the Mondeo and others. And Jaguar with a new saloon in 2015 sitting on a flexible rear-drive aluminium architecture previewed by the C-X17 crossover at Frankfurt this year.
This ugly duckling never grew into a swan
"The proportions were plainly wrong," he tells PistonHeads.
How so? "It was a front-wheel drive platform with a long front overhang and the cabin was in the wrong position," he says. "It didn't look mature or powerful or anything. It was just a car." Ouch.
Of course it also had the unhappily retro-styled front end with the quad headlamps. "There was a time when Jaguar was tremendously popular with very beautiful, classic cars, but it was plainly overplayed. It hung onto that too long," says Thomson.
Ford's trying the posh Mondeo thing again
"We wanted a sense of poise. The way the car sits on the wheels needs to be very authoritative [demonstrating] latent power. Big wheels right to the ends of the car, low bonnet, short overhangs, very low cabins. These are the sort of things we asked for," he tells us. And he says he got them too.
Ford meanwhile says it's much happier sprucing up the next version of the Mondeo for the top of the line Vignale trim than it was adapting the Mondeo to suit the demands of a more premium brand.
"Jaguar is the definition of a classical British car. I love it. But If you start to mix this up with a mass production brand you run the risk of losing such a brand," Ford of Europe head of quality, Gunnar Herrmann, tells us. "This is where people were getting concerned. They say, hey, this is a fake Jaguar, because every piece I touch is Ford."
Finally appealing as Shed opportunity knocks
Neither are saying outright the X-Type was a bad car overall (and it's temptingly close to Shed status now) but that it failed on two crucial areas: design and perception of what a Jaguar should be. The average PHer might not rank the perception part that high, but the fact remains X-Type sales stunk and both companies want to avoid that fate again.
Ok there were silly projections that the X-Type didn't meet, but weren't those projections aimed at selling double what Mercedes and Audi managed in the same sector. Missing such an unachievable target isn't surprising.
I love it, mines an 05 in clean condition with nice wheels, leather, cruise etc etc, does 45mpg I can get loads of crap in it and it cost me 2 bags of sand
is it a bad car ? absolutley NOT, would I have bought one new ? absolutley NOT
as suggested in the write up it's not a pretty car and the front wings/lights dont flow with the rest of the styling but for a cheap reasonable looking daily I reckon it's hard to beat
the X type gets stacks of hate for platform sharing with CD 132 but in my mind thats an advantage as it's cheaper to run, I think it was just one of the first well known platform sharing programs
everyone's at it these days but there not as well publicised
One big issue was they didn't differentiate from the Mondeo bits. For example, the diesels were the same spec and outputs as the same engine in the Mondeo. Would it have been so hard to find another 15bhp for a Jaguar? It would have made a big difference to the perception - it's hard for people to say it's the same engine when the power and torque figures are different.
Finally, the X-type came out at a time where BMW were really hitting a high point on CO2, power and MPG from their engines, as well has being very competitive for leasing / fleet deals. The X-Type just didn't compete on an objective basis, regardless of the subjective stuff. A friend was in a position to get a 3-series or an X-type on a company car scheme and had a real soft spot for Jags, really wanted to own one. But they ended up with a 3-series because the Jag was slower, had less BHP, did less MPG and was more expensive on the car scheme. Fail.
The only one I went in though was a 4x4 one - but all the switchgear etc was Ford.
I must admit I did think the 2 wheel drive was a rear drive.
I have always liked the Jag styling (and have one now) but don't like the way most
are heading now that we seem to be going back to the "jelly mould" shape like the dreaded Sierra!!!
Too many cars look alike on the road now - and the Jag always stood out in a good way
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