RE: Jaguar unveils cool car wall

RE: Jaguar unveils cool car wall

Author
Discussion

dbdb

4,311 posts

172 months

Thursday 13th September 2012
quotequote all
It saddens me how little pride Jaguar seem to take in their past achievements – so unlike their German competitors who whilst not bound to the past, feel pride in what has gone before. It is bizarre and baffling, given how great those achievements are, and how many world class cars the company has made over many years.

Jaguar recently shut their heritage museum, having disposed of most of the cars and other exhibits gathered there over the life of the company. Much of it went in a skip.

I do not suggest Jaguar should be hogtied to the past, its products hamstrung by outdated style and values. But it has a great history and it is sad that the value of this to the brand seems to escape the current management entirely.

Jaguar give us a “Cool wall”: I’d say WOW! But Porsche give us this:



BMW managed this:


Mercedes built this:



Maybe the German pride and efforts seem a little vainglorious, but there is something reassuring about a company which values itself.

It is difficult to fathom Jaguar’s thinking, set against the actions of their competetors. Perhaps it is a cost saving measure? – But the museum was hardly large nor was it lavish. Maybe their marketeers believe the only way to throw off Jaguar’s ‘old man’ image is to deny it made anything before the XF - the article/advertorial does say “Pretty soon, all traces of the dated cream-tinted Ford-era branding will disappear”. If this is the case, it seems extraordinarily simplistic and short sighted. It does not auger well.

henders

11 posts

178 months

Thursday 13th September 2012
quotequote all
dbdb said:
It saddens me how little pride Jaguar seem to take in their past achievements – so unlike their German competitors who whilst not bound to the past, feel pride in what has gone before. It is bizarre and baffling, given how great those achievements are, and how many world class cars the company has made over many years.

Jaguar recently shut their heritage museum, having disposed of most of the cars and other exhibits gathered there over the life of the company. Much of it went in a skip.

I do not suggest Jaguar should be hogtied to the past, its products hamstrung by outdated style and values. But it has a great history and it is sad that the value of this to the brand seems to escape the current management entirely.

Jaguar give us a “Cool wall”: I’d say WOW! But Porsche give us this:



BMW managed this:


Mercedes built this:



Maybe the German pride and efforts seem a little vainglorious, but there is something reassuring about a company which values itself.

It is difficult to fathom Jaguar’s thinking, set against the actions of their competetors. Perhaps it is a cost saving measure? – But the museum was hardly large nor was it lavish. Maybe their marketeers believe the only way to throw off Jaguar’s ‘old man’ image is to deny it made anything before the XF - the article/advertorial does say “Pretty soon, all traces of the dated cream-tinted Ford-era branding will disappear”. If this is the case, it seems extraordinarily simplistic and short sighted. It does not auger well.
^^^Give them chance mate, it wasn't that long ago that they were in real financial trouble, I think they've done a fantastic job in managing to turn it around as much as they have done. I reckon there will be much bigger and better things to come from Jaguar, even if it does mean brushing their past to one side and concentrating on their future.

Domf

286 posts

154 months

Thursday 13th September 2012
quotequote all
I think Jaguar has reinvented itself in the last 10 years and it now is at a position were it can tell the world it is a car company with a bright future looking forward not back with the financial clout of TATA behind it. For many years under BL and then John Egan Jaguar was starved of investment and it's products just got older and older XJ and XJS and were developed on a shoestring.Ford bought them and let's not forget saved them, invested millions but that was only to play catch up with the german competition. Ford made the mistake of believing Jaguar customers wanted Jaguars as before hence the X,S and XJ350 models all harked back to the Sir William Lyons designs of the 60's. But Jaguar during Lyons ownership never looked back,
he knew the XK150 required a radical replacement hence the E type, likewise he replaced both the S and X types with one model the XJ. Jaguar are now back on that road in development, the XF was different to the S and likewise the current XJ was a huge step away from the pastiche the X350 had become. By all means celebrate the history of Jaguar just don't live in it.

jon-

16,497 posts

215 months

Thursday 13th September 2012
quotequote all

LotusOmega375D

7,581 posts

152 months

Thursday 13th September 2012
quotequote all
We all know that Jaguar is doing well globally, but I haven't seen many of the new XJ out and about in the UK. In the heyday of the XJ6, they were a common sight in the cigar-smoking Directors' parking bays of British companies. That market seems to have gone completely to the Germans. Maybe the XJ is seen as too pricey these days, so those potential clients are happy to settle for an XF? It seems like the current XJ is aimed more at the chauffeur-driven limousine top end of the market and of course rich clients in other countries.

pSyCoSiS

3,581 posts

204 months

Thursday 13th September 2012
quotequote all
Good to see that Jaguar have employed so many people in the local area.

Good luck to them.

Look forward to the F-Type

the_g_ster

374 posts

194 months

Thursday 13th September 2012
quotequote all
I think the yellow beast on the wall in the Lambo factory looks a little better but good effort.

Domf

286 posts

154 months

Thursday 13th September 2012
quotequote all
LotusOmega375D said:
In the heyday of the XJ6, they were a common sight in the cigar-smoking Directors' parking bays of British companies. That market seems to have gone completely to the Germans.
I think it had more to do with history, agreed in the late 60's and early 70's most British Company directors drove XJ6's, these men had in their youth fought a war against Germany and so had most of their workforce and therefore they still carried memory scars and a disdain for anything German. You also have to remember during that period only Mercedes were building XJ6 competition at a far higher price. Today 70 years on generations have passed and the UK companies buy on a pragmatic basis rather than a patriotic basis.

Edited by Domf on Thursday 13th September 14:04

whaddon1981

10 posts

138 months

Thursday 13th September 2012
quotequote all
Good to see the rear spoiler is working properly!

Wolands Advocate

2,493 posts

215 months

Friday 14th September 2012
quotequote all
This a trick nicked from others, not least BMW who used to have a wall of M cars adorning a huge hoarding covering the remains of the old Hotel Rosssiya in Moscow about 4 years ago:


oilit

2,618 posts

177 months

Saturday 15th September 2012
quotequote all
and as mentioned before the mini on bmw mini pressings plant in swindon. The one i dont understand though is the mini sat on top of a tall building in swindon that you can see from the railway station...

loudlashadjuster

5,084 posts

183 months

Monday 17th September 2012
quotequote all
Missed a trick there by not adding a dab more oppo.


EviLScooB

39 posts

199 months

Monday 17th September 2012
quotequote all
Na, as you were Mr Jag's!!!
black412i said:
A nice effort, but I prefer my wall ornaments Italian and 12-cylindered wink

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-0512lamborghi...


Edited by black412i on Wednesday 12th September 18:24[/footnote]
[footnote]Edited by EviLScooB on Monday 17th September 12:48