Will Jaguar survive?
Discussion
There has been much posted about the closure and sell off of Brown's Lane, but surely the question should be, can Jaguar survive at all? Successive moves by Ford leave severe questions on the viability of the marque.
Ford went into Formula 1 because it had the biggest viewing audiences with a very limited budget - $150 million compared at the time to Ferrari's $700 million. No contest there! Bad image for Jaguar and a quick withdrawal.
Jaguar's history is in the Sarthe, endurance racing, but Ford chose to come back with Aston Martin (OK, Le Mans history yes but only one win in 1959 compared to Jaguars glorious history in the 50's and 80's) purely because an Aston is a Jaguar at twice the price so a bigger profit margin on each car sold. Then they sell Aston!
The JD Power survey in the USA perplexes me since Jaguar come out extremely well whereas over in Europe the reliability issue is one that constantly raises its head when talking to owners.
However, for some the biggest problem is the Ford one. Toyota created a completely separate marque with Lexus to differentiate and it worked, but, unkind as it is, people refer to the X type as the "up market Mondeo". The Jaguar name is to some extent tainted by the Ford association.
It has to be said though that they made one of the biggest mistakes with the X type diesel. Most Jaguars have always been sold with an auto box but there isn't room in the X type so if you want an auto diesel you have to buy the Mondeo!
The big car market is shrinking. Ford, like Vauxhall, dropped their big Scorpio because they couldn't compete just as the Senator couldn't. VW have had the same problem with the Phaeton - badge snobbery when a Bentley is the same car at twice the price. Ford bought Jaguar at an obscene price and have deeply invested but the dollar/pound means that the marque is far too dear over there unless they lose money on each car sold.
The car market will inevitably shrink more as time goes by and it will be survival of the fittest and Ford surely aren't fit. Will we see a Chinese or Korean Jaguar in the end? I wouldn't take bets against it. I'll be interested to see your replies, but no knee jerk reactions. We all want Jaguar to survive but it is a question of how.
Ford went into Formula 1 because it had the biggest viewing audiences with a very limited budget - $150 million compared at the time to Ferrari's $700 million. No contest there! Bad image for Jaguar and a quick withdrawal.
Jaguar's history is in the Sarthe, endurance racing, but Ford chose to come back with Aston Martin (OK, Le Mans history yes but only one win in 1959 compared to Jaguars glorious history in the 50's and 80's) purely because an Aston is a Jaguar at twice the price so a bigger profit margin on each car sold. Then they sell Aston!
The JD Power survey in the USA perplexes me since Jaguar come out extremely well whereas over in Europe the reliability issue is one that constantly raises its head when talking to owners.
However, for some the biggest problem is the Ford one. Toyota created a completely separate marque with Lexus to differentiate and it worked, but, unkind as it is, people refer to the X type as the "up market Mondeo". The Jaguar name is to some extent tainted by the Ford association.
It has to be said though that they made one of the biggest mistakes with the X type diesel. Most Jaguars have always been sold with an auto box but there isn't room in the X type so if you want an auto diesel you have to buy the Mondeo!
The big car market is shrinking. Ford, like Vauxhall, dropped their big Scorpio because they couldn't compete just as the Senator couldn't. VW have had the same problem with the Phaeton - badge snobbery when a Bentley is the same car at twice the price. Ford bought Jaguar at an obscene price and have deeply invested but the dollar/pound means that the marque is far too dear over there unless they lose money on each car sold.
The car market will inevitably shrink more as time goes by and it will be survival of the fittest and Ford surely aren't fit. Will we see a Chinese or Korean Jaguar in the end? I wouldn't take bets against it. I'll be interested to see your replies, but no knee jerk reactions. We all want Jaguar to survive but it is a question of how.
The Octavia is a Golf platform and the Skoda Superb a Passat base but elongated 30cms to give more room in the back seat. The car was designed for the Chinese like that originally.
As regards the comments about the auto box not being available, I spent a lot of time looking into this several years back and at first was fobbed off by dealers saying no one wanted an auto box on a diesel. In the end I was informed by the factory that there wasn't room for an auto box due to the size of the engine so that's where I got it from - the horses mouth. I don't think it has anything to do with it being a JATCO auto box at all, although from all I read these haven't proved terribly reliable either. I understand though that the new model will be available with an auto diesel - at last. Incidentally, I wonder why it seems only to be the German manufacturers who offer diesel autos? Mazda don't, nor Honda, and to change my car I seem to be forced to buy German again. I have an old Mercedes C class at the moment and fancied a change. Now an X type four wheel drive diesel auto would be perfect for towing the trailer and race car.
As regards the comments about the auto box not being available, I spent a lot of time looking into this several years back and at first was fobbed off by dealers saying no one wanted an auto box on a diesel. In the end I was informed by the factory that there wasn't room for an auto box due to the size of the engine so that's where I got it from - the horses mouth. I don't think it has anything to do with it being a JATCO auto box at all, although from all I read these haven't proved terribly reliable either. I understand though that the new model will be available with an auto diesel - at last. Incidentally, I wonder why it seems only to be the German manufacturers who offer diesel autos? Mazda don't, nor Honda, and to change my car I seem to be forced to buy German again. I have an old Mercedes C class at the moment and fancied a change. Now an X type four wheel drive diesel auto would be perfect for towing the trailer and race car.
I started this thread because I wanted to see the reaction and boy - you've reacted both for and against. As far as the X type is concerned I'm not concerned that it may or may not be Mondeo based, I'm more concerned that so many wrong decisions have come from Ford that have led to Jaguar sales falling. Years back I was at Browns Lane and they were furious that the new XJ6 (at the time), fully signed off, was suddenly vetoed by a Ford bigwig and they had to start the design again. As far as the X type is concerned it has no auto box and most Jaguars have traditionally been autos - yet the Mondeo diesel is available in auto. Going further it took Jaguar a long time to bring a diesel out and this hurt enormously in mainland Europe where diesels account for the majority of sales. Ford took Jaguar into Formula One with a lousy budget and brought Aston Martin to Le Mans - then sold Aston. It is the lack of cohesion and logic to so many of their decisions that leads me to ask the question as to whether Jaguar, in the long term, has a future.
Look at makes that were once famous and exist no more; Rover was once a proud marque that rivalled Jaguar with it's bigger cars, Bentley is now an up market VW, Rolls Royce a BMW but at least they survive and make money. Auto Union, NSU, let alone such makes as Delahaye and so on exist no more. Nothing is sacrosanct, and Ford are in trouble - big time. Jaguar will probably survive, but in my humble opinion as either a Korean or Chinese brand in the end.
Look at makes that were once famous and exist no more; Rover was once a proud marque that rivalled Jaguar with it's bigger cars, Bentley is now an up market VW, Rolls Royce a BMW but at least they survive and make money. Auto Union, NSU, let alone such makes as Delahaye and so on exist no more. Nothing is sacrosanct, and Ford are in trouble - big time. Jaguar will probably survive, but in my humble opinion as either a Korean or Chinese brand in the end.
Hopeful, but still not convinced. If Aston was the profit maker, and Jaguar the loss maker, why on earth sell a marque that sells a Jaguar at twice the price and keep the other? Somewhere along the line there is some strange thinking going on at top level. We know that Ford makes the fastest selling vehicle in the world (F150 truck) but if you've seen one it is crap, and frankly what seems needed is that the Jaguar management take over at Dearborn.
Gassing Station | Jaguar | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff