...Jag's Last Roar...?

[MikeKozlowski]

....So, apparently the last ICE Jaguar - an F-Pace SUV - came off the line on 19 December, headed straight to a museum. Sometime next year, an all-electric GT will start coming off the line, with a 150,000 pound price tag.

Wondering what my friends on the other side of the Pond see in the future for Jag. Most writers here- especially after so many manufacturers have started to scrap their EVs, and the EU shut off its EV mandate - are starting to get pessimistic about Jag's chances for survival.

I for one hope they change course and make it - I will probably never afford one, but they can be things of absolute beauty, see also XKE and XJS. That is of course, when they work - some years ago I had the chance to get a surprisingly low-price and mileage XJS VandenPlas, and when I mentioned it here more than one person suggested getting two, so there might be a reasonable chance of having a working one at any given time. I've also considered that for a very long time now, Jag has probably been about the upper limit on luxury and tech that one could reasonably expect to use as a daily driver. So, it was a nice dream.

Mike

[Nathan45]

Isn't Jaguar owned by TTM? I cant imagine them letting the iconic brand die at the minimum

[Micael]

Isn't Jaguar owned by TTM? I cant imagine them letting the iconic brand die at the minimum

Jaguar ran an absolutely disastrous advertising campaign/rebranding that some describe as ”woke”, and which resonated extremely poorly with their existing customer base, causing a substantial drop in sales. They fired the guy responsible recently but it’s going to take some serious effort to salvage the brand at this point.

[Johnnie Lyle]

Isn't Jaguar owned by TTM? I cant imagine them letting the iconic brand die at the minimum

Jaguar ran an absolutely disastrous advertising campaign/rebranding that some describe as ”woke”, and which resonated extremely poorly with their existing customer base, causing a substantial drop in sales. They fired the guy responsible recently but it’s going to take some serious effort to salvage the brand at this point.

There’s a lot of that going around, where corporate managers don’t understand their product or customer base. It’s not enough to sack the previous group of managers/executives; you need to correctly understand what failed and why, so you can select appropriate replacements who will not make a similar mistake in a different skin.

There is a market for an all electric luxury car, especially in the world where subsidies for EVs have gone and thus all of the things are more expensive. However, that market is going to be very niche, especially for an ostentatious luxury brand rather than an understated luxury brand. If Jag’s new management understands that and can market electric Jags to the right group of people with excessive cash or financing on hand, they may do well. If they don’t understand the product, market and customer - and thus how they stand out from the competitors - they’ll be in trouble.

[Craiglxviii]

JLR (remember it isn’t <just> The Jag, but Land Rover, Range Rover are all brands within the same marque) are now a laughing stock within the European automakers club.

This is an eye-opening video which gives some insight into the brave new world of JLR: https://youtu.be/Kzvscc5wqUs?si=fZx0kfsLOLZ1TBg0

So. I can tell you that the market they are now chasing (the £80-150k Premium E-Segment) is already fully filled with high end Audi, BMW & M-B, and low-end Bentley & Porsche. It’s a really tough marketplace- oh ask me how I know- where personalisation (and all of the horrendous logistical complications it brings) is key, and that’s a situation JLR absolutely isn’t set up to fulfil, with the very slight exception of its SVR sub-brand. Quite frankly, the higher-end OEMs already have the top end of the marked stitched up neatly and the very real gap is either in the £150-350k end (about 40,000 cars/yr TAM) or in the £45-80k end (about 500,000 cars/yr TAM).

It’s telling that none of my mates over at Gaydon are doing their usual crowing over new designs; they’re staying quiet and admit they’re deeply, deeply in the shit.

VAG recently carried out a very frank internal study of the state of ICE car sales in Europe, and concluded its policy of all-BEV/ PHEV was flawed, and it’s now pulling back from that to study the phased reintroduction of ICE/ PHEV cars at the top end of its various ranges (read- competing directly with whatever “high quality” crap Gaydon manages to push out).

[JBG]

A neighbour had 4 Jags and said that his F type was the most unreliable.

Granted his E type, XJS and series 1 two door were all effectively rebuilt and maintained at great cost!

His wife privately told me that she thought my ND2 MX5 (red, soft top) would be more fun than the early E type ….

Having said that, Jag’s demise is a sad thing but they just could not build quality cars. I once parked next to an F type and the uneven panel gaps had my Mazda sniggering.

Jonathan

[Johnnie Lyle]

JLR (remember it isn’t <just> The Jag, but Land Rover, Range Rover are all brands within the same marque) are now a laughing stock within the European automakers club.

This is an eye-opening video which gives some insight into the brave new world of JLR: https://youtu.be/Kzvscc5wqUs?si=fZx0kfsLOLZ1TBg0

So. I can tell you that the market they are now chasing (the £80-150k Premium E-Segment) is already fully filled with high end Audi, BMW & M-B, and low-end Bentley & Porsche. It’s a really tough marketplace- oh ask me how I know- where personalisation (and all of the horrendous logistical complications it brings) is key, and that’s a situation JLR absolutely isn’t set up to fulfil, with the very slight exception of its SVR sub-brand. Quite frankly, the higher-end OEMs already have the top end of the marked stitched up neatly and the very real gap is either in the £150-350k end (about 40,000 cars/yr TAM) or in the £45-80k end (about 500,000 cars/yr TAM).

It’s telling that none of my mates over at Gaydon are doing their usual crowing over new designs; they’re staying quiet and admit they’re deeply, deeply in the shit.

VAG recently carried out a very frank internal study of the state of ICE car sales in Europe, and concluded its policy of all-BEV/ PHEV was flawed, and it’s now pulling back from that to study the phased reintroduction of ICE/ PHEV cars at the top end of its various ranges (read- competing directly with whatever “high quality” crap Gaydon manages to push out).

That smells like somebody’s golden parachute is riding the thermals of the devastation left in their wake.