Jaguar hits ‘reset’ to rebuild brand
Storied British brand Jaguar is about to take the boldest steps in its modern life. It will add all-wheel drive — which it never has had — on 2013 models and will offer more fuelefficient supercharged V-6s and even turbocharged fourcylinder engines along with the V-8s that have been its stock in trade.
It also will try to re-establish its sporting image by launching the F-type two-seater early next year. It’s the brand’s first true sports car since the XKE that defined Jag in the 1960s and 1970s. The aluminum-bodied car, was to have been unveiled in production form at the Paris Auto Show on Sept. 27. A camouflage-painted prototype made its first public appearance at a U.K. event in June.
The hope is for the F-type to be an “emotional fulcrum” for Jaguar, the way the 911 sports car is for Porsche, said Andy Goss, president of Jaguar Land Rover North America.
“People buy (Porsche) Panameras because of the 911,” he said.
Jaguar and Land Rover form a single U.K.-based company, bought from Ford Motor in 2008 by India’s Tata.
“We’ve pressed the reset button on Jaguar. We’re trying to dismantle the brand and rebuild it,” Goss said.
Jaguar’s remake is a matter of survival. “The vast majority of the market, we’ve not even been competing in,” Goss said.
The dominance of V-6s and AWD among luxury cars means that Jaguar, without either, is viable in just 16 percent of the luxury market, Goss said.
“We’ve competed very effectively in a pond that’s gotten very small.”
It’s hard to imagine a Jag buyer shelling out $60,000 or more and worrying about fuel prices, but Jaguar says buyers must appear to friends and neighbors to be concerned about smart, rather than in- dulgent, choices.
“These days, whether we like it or not, we’re in the game of economic justification,” Goss said. Even among buyers who don’t prefer a six-cylinder — and may not buy one — a brand without one falls off the consideration list, the Jaguar’s internal data show.
Jaguar Land Rover has in-house proof, too, that small engines can lead a sales surge. The new Range Rover Evoque is a small, stylish crossover SUV that uses the same 2-liter turbo four-cylinder that will be the base engine in the 2013 Jag XF sedan.
Evoque is about as different as imaginable from the big, blocky, V-8-powered Range Rover and Land Rover models. Evoque won North American Truck of the Year and has propelled sales. Land Rover’s U.S. sales through July were up 21.4 percent, outperforming a new vehicle market up 14.8 percent, according to Autodata. Jaguar sales are up just 1.5 percent in the same period.
The new Jaguar drivetrains will make their debut on 2013 models. And the all-wheel drive will be available only with V-6 engines. The U.S. will account for 75 percent of AWD sales, Jaguar forecasts.