New XJ sales figures?

[AmitG]

Given the high profile launch, and the radical design, I'm curious as to how the new XJ is selling. Are there any official dealers, or others, who could offer some insight?

Is it meeting sales projections? Any sales figures relative to the competition? Any change in the profile of the typical XJ buyer?

I don't see many around London, but then it's hardly a mass market vehicle. Also, at last year's Canary Wharf motor show, I was told that Jaguar are now building to order, to avoid flooding the market and depressing used values.

There's a dark grey XJ-L down SWMBO's road, outside a council estate ironically. The guy said he used to have an S-class, but traded it in for this. It looks stunning. I didn't ask him where he got the money from

[iain_thornton]

a couple of months after it came out, I remember reading it was best-selling in it's class in Britain
don't know though, to be honest other than that

[Piersman2]

Good question as I've seen 2 I think in the last 6 months of tooling up and down the M4 everyday, would have thought I'd have seen more in that time and location.

The second one I saw just this week... on the M25 with it's front staved in from where it had run into the back of two other cars. Oooops

[iain_thornton]

Piersman2 said:

Good question as I've seen 2 I think in the last 6 months of tooling up and down the M4 everyday, would have thought I'd have seen more in that time and location.

The second one I saw just this week... on the M25 with it's front staved in from where it had run into the back of two other cars. Oooops

really?I see quite a few out here, out in the countryside
Shropshire

[dan tournay]

I see loads of them but that's because I have to visit Fort Dunlop for work. From the upper levels you can see straight into the Castle Bromwich storage yard and there always seems be a couple of hundred awaiting despatch. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=castle+bromwich&am...

I'll get a photo next time I'm there

[ParanoidAndroid]

Was thinking the same. Live in Thames Valley and think I've seen 2 on the road so far, which is a shame as I think they look fantastic and have real presence.

[Shar2]

Had only seen one or two around Kingston area, (probably due to Guy Salmons being nearby). But this week I've haed 5 pass my works building on the A3 southbound. Very disitinctive with a lot of presence.

[AmitG]

Shar2 said:

Had only seen one or two around Kingston area, (probably due to Guy Salmons being nearby). But this week I've haed 5 pass my works building on the A3 southbound. Very disitinctive with a lot of presence.

I didn't like it when I first saw the pictures, but was won over by seeing it in the metal. It's a work of art and it really does turn heads. You really do have to see it to understand it. When parked on the street it makes surrounding cars look old and dated.

I'm still not overly keen on the rear, which I think could be better resolved. The blacked out C pillars are interesting, but I can't help wondering whether they are there for reasons other than aesthetics - maybe ease of manufacture? And I would prefer a proper gear lever rather than that rotating knob thing, which is too "iPod generation" for me.

[jon_b]

Taken from Jaguar press release (concerning UK sales for 2010) earlier this month:

• XJ achieves segment leadership
• Best ever sales year for the XF - and consecutive growth for third year
• XF up 25 per cent in 2010 and has now achieved 80 international awards globally
• XK up 15 per cent in 2010 - double that of sector growth

In 2010 Jaguar sold 16,182 cars in the UK.
XJ: 1790
XK: 1641
XF: 12,687

[AmitG]

jon_b said:

Taken from Jaguar press release (concerning UK sales for 2010) earlier this month:

• XJ achieves segment leadership
• Best ever sales year for the XF - and consecutive growth for third year
• XF up 25 per cent in 2010 and has now achieved 80 international awards globally
• XK up 15 per cent in 2010 - double that of sector growth

In 2010 Jaguar sold 16,182 cars in the UK.
XJ: 1790
XK: 1641
XF: 12,687

Thanks jon_b. Considering the state of the economy, 1790 UK sales sounds impressive.

[Simpo Two]

AmitG said:

Considering the state of the XJs hippopotamus backside, 1790 UK sales sounds impressive.

EFA

[Jaguar steve]

I'm not sure anybody who has read this months Top Gear magazine is going to rush out and buy an new XJ...

[Triple7]

Why, what does it say? One parked next to me at Cribbs Causeway y'day, I think it is gorgeous. (There was a packet of Werthers Originals in the middle console mind you!)

Edited by Triple7 on Sunday 30th January 09:21

[Simpo Two]

Triple7 said:

One parked next to me at Cribbs Causeway y'day, I think it is gorgeous. (There was a packet of Werthers Originals in the middle console mind you!)

These damn old people; don't they know Jaguars are only for 18-25s now?



'Good morning, I'd like to buy a Jaguar please.'

'Certainly sir, may I have your date of birth?'

'30 Jan 1982.'

'I'm sorry sir, but you're too - uh - I mean you don't fit in with our customer profile. This is a young showroom for young people... Have you tried Acme Mobility Scooters?'

Edited by Simpo Two on Sunday 30th January 09:50

[a8hex]

Nah, it's OK now.
Since they abandoned the low sleek graceful style they've raise the seat and roof line to the point where you no longer need a doctors certificate that your knees are up to Jaguar ownership.

[AmitG]

Triple7 said:

Why, what does it say?

Edited by Triple7 on Sunday 30th January 09:21

It's pretty bad. Jaguar fans look away now:

"We finally admit defeat with our long-term XJ"

"My most unreliable long-termer in 10 years"

"If you had bought this £67k motor from a dealer, it would have probably ended up back on their forecourt some time ago"

"Litany of crapness...floppy trim, a stereo option that couldn't handle certain frequencies, broken headlights, windscreen wipers that fell off at 70mph in a rainstorm and various flashes from the electronics. The last culminating in a total system meltdown"

"So many failure messages they were forced to cycle on the digital dash" - this is just before the entire dashboard shut down.

Jaguar say it's because they have a pre-production model. Which, if true, leads to the question: why on earth did Jaguar give out a buggy pre-production model to a high-profile motoring journalist without briefing him properly? Major screw-up there methinks.

According to the article, Jaguar are going to replace it with a proper production model, and they are going to try again. Someone in Jaguar needs to get an almighty bking for allowing a car like this to get so much publicity. They should have been all over this long before it got to this stage.

It also illustrates what many of us have been saying for ages. These days, everything in cars is linked to central computers, which creates a single point of failure. With the XJ, if the computer gets confused you lose everything - central locking, stability aids, dials, gauges, warning lights, audio, everything. The car becomes totally undriveable. You can reboot a PC with minor inconvenience but you can't reboot a car when you're in the fast lane of the M4.

[Stedman]

For us youngsters who have Twitter, Tom Ford who used to present 5th gear often tweets about 'that' XJ. I've got a few responses from him and the second car seems to be doing a lot better. By a lot better I mean, it's not falling apart and is doing what everyone would expect from a car

Chris Harris who used to write in/present Autocar had a XKR door open on him at 70mph on the motorway recently. Not good pub'.

[iain_thornton]

it's like Jag's going through what they did 50 years ago
cars for high reaching younger people. a sales renaissance that I relish
like BMW enjoyed from the '80s onwards
now, who would like to take a bet that one day in the future the Jaguar Land Rover Group won't be the best selling premium vehicle maker?
remember, if you had taken the bet in 1995 that BMW would overtake Daimler-Benz you would've been seen as stupid

we can always hope as the product range and sales grow

[Simpo Two]

I don't think you can make that comparison. Jaguar is struggling to find a place. It wants to keep its heritage, yet hide it as well.


I was musing only yesterday how it is that the top men in German car companies tend to be doctors of engineering, whereas those in British (?) car companies are marketing men.

This summary of national characteristics (from an American perspective) dates from 1945 but I suspect is still true:

British: Brave, resourceful, quaint, reserved, dull.
Germans: Clean, hard-working, disciplined, educated.

Stereotypes perhaps, but there is a reason why they are.


Perhaps one of the reasons behind the drive for younger customers is that whereas once you had to get the boardroom (which took 20+ years) to afford one, there are now so many wealthy 20-somethings. Jaguars and equivalent cars should be aspirational - something you aspire to and have to work towards. It's a mark of achievement, of status and prestige. Get it with carbon fibre cup-holders when you're 25 and what's left?

[jagfan2]

Simpo Two said:

I was musing only yesterday how it is that the top men in German car companies tend to be doctors of engineering, whereas those in British (?) car companies are marketing men.

Not sure thats a fair statement, depends how senior your talking? And which german companies, most CEO's are now marketing/buisness types, but if you step down to chief progamme engineers etc most are have a strong engineering background

XJ review

this LT review on a production car indicates it may just be a pre production issue
http://www.carsuk.net/jaguar-xj-3-0-tdv6-long-term...

"And through it all the XJ hasn’t missed a beat. Nothing has hiccuped, nothing has broken"