Ford buys Jaguar -- 15 years on
Anniversary of the blue oval's purchase of top UK car company
It's been 15 years to the day since Jaguar became a Ford subsidiary. On this day in 1989, Jaguar entered a new era when it became a subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company.
In the lead-up to the buy-out, in February 1985, founder Sir William Lyons died at his home having lived to see his beloved company returned to independence the previous year. The tributes were plentiful and glowing. For 50 years he had been Jaguar and the part he played in the history of the automobile is immeasurable.
Five years later, Jaguar announced enhancements to the flagship XJ6 range with an enlarging of the 3.6 litre AJ6 engine to 4 litres, along with new electronics, interior trim, and other modern accoutrements such as ABS. In introducing the new 4.0 litre, chairman Sir John Egan stressed the extent of the changes which resulted in what he liked to describe as a 'world class car'.
But the luxury car market was becoming an increasingly competitive one. Though the company had a good range of products, difficult trading conditions and adverse exchange rates led the Jaguar board to recognise the potential value of collaboration with a world class car manufacturer.
Discussions took place with a number of major car companies, including GM and Ford, to explore ways of broadening Jaguar's product range. Ford then announced plans to buy up to 15 per cent of Jaguar and then, with a government limit of 15 per cent shareholding for the company removed, it made a successful bid for the whole company.
Over the next 15 years, Jaguar managed to hang onto its image of speed coupled with elegance, exemplified in modern times by the XK8/XKR (middle right).
How it all started
In 1935, British car designer William Lyons introduced the SS Jaguar 100 as a new marque for his Swallow Sidecar Company. Swallow Sidecar had been manufacturing complete luxury cars for four years, but the SS Jaguar 100 was Lyons' first true sports car.
During World War II, Lyons dropped the Swallow Sidecar name, and the dodgy SS initials, and Jaguar Cars Ltd. was formally established. The first significant post-war Jaguar, the XK120, was introduced in 1948 at the London Motor Show to great acclaim. Capable of speeds in excess of 120mph, the XK120 was the fastest production car in the world, and has to be among the finest sports cars ever made.
cerbman said:
4WD, diesel, estate, canned F-Type and possibly an SUV. Well done Ford, you've turned Jaguar into yet another eurobox manufacturer.
Ian A.
But it's ok for Audi, BMW and Mercedes to do this?
Apparently so… however Jaguar must survive in a dying sector of the market…
davidson said:
Jaguar should concentrate on a specialist niche market. Forget high volume, look at the mess the X Type is in. Jaguar should focus on PERFORMANCE and STYLE. Rather than attepting to emulate BMW and Merc, Jaguar should produce a small line of exclusive vehicles. Ford owns a breadth of makes to be able to do this.
So what do you do with Aston then…?
The allure of the brand comes from its line up of models, spearheaded by the XJ.
One of the core marque values, as Ford likes to term them, has always been sumptuous power, ie. luxury and pace.
However the brand is not one that can be directly compared to BMW or Mercedes as Ford would have imagined when they bought the brand. That is precisely why thay have so far failed to reap the rewards of Jaguar ownership.
That sumptuous grace that all Jaguar owners take pride in is far removed from the ego building that goes on when parking on the drive in the Beamer M3 or whatever.
Its not a 'loads a money' message that the owner is trying to convey, rather it is a certain style, and taste.
And the problem is that sitting in the porfolio of brands currently held by Ford exists another certain other British luxury car maker with the a strong 'sporting' heritage and reputation for grace, namely Aston Martin.
And how to juggle all these lovely old names really is Ford's problem.
davidson said:
Agreed, well put. However the two can co-exist. Aston don't (and never should) do saloons. Jaguar have arguably one of the best reuputations for luxury spotrs saloons. And, lets face it £60K for an XJR is a long way off £130K for a DB9. Jaguar should out smart the opposition, instead of an SUV, go for a funky cross-over vehicle......with 500bhp of course!
Best we forget the Lagonda then…
davidson said:
What, the R-D6 ? Looks pretty fantastic to me, saw it in the flesh at Goodwood - one of the best looking cars in the whole Supercar paddock IMHO. This is the kind of vehicle that Jaguar needs, prefrably with a 500BHP engine - shake it up, get rid of the old git / golf club syndrome.
Well I've only seen the autocar photos. Looks like the front, back and sides all came off different cars, and the stumpy back kills the proprtions, IMHO... where are the elegant proportions of the 1998 XJR, for example? (yes I used to have one) Or the E-type convertible? Give it a boot!
And at the moment it's got a diesel V6...
The cars were poor quality, and had terrible reliability. Thankfully that has turned around and they are once again viewed as the best that the British have to offer. The only problem is they are somewhat over priced, and I still don't like the Mondeo ... oops..... X Type.
Although Ford owns the company, the car is still very much British.
Ford have a difficult task with the premier brands but I feel have achieved this better that VW. However just as Ford do not make big Fords in Europe, making small Jaguars might be diluting the brand and be part of the problem with the Xtype. Personally I feel that the car is not different enough and has too much committee design interference.
Let Jaguar be bold.
Another famous British brand Rover appears doomed, no new models since the 75 in 1998! BMW left as quickly as it could with the MINI.
Many contributors here including myself wouldn't have dreamt of buying a Jag in the mid to late 80's,as the cars although beautiful were to say the least fragile,
Ford sorted that out with investment that Jaguar could never have raised and looking at the other possible suiters, GM look what they've done for SAAB, almost killed the brand. VW they'd have built new Jaguars on a golf chassis with a badged VW family engine.
So Ford aren't perfect parents but hey they've had to sought out a problem child.
At the time of the Ford takeover Jaguar had a number of products due to hit the marketplace, a LWB XJ12, the XJ41 sportscar (4WD, 6 cyl, twin turbo) and the XJ220. What appeared on paper to be good turned out to be rather poor value and Ford spent much of the early nineties fixing quality and laying the foundations for the X300 and XK8.
The S-Type and X-Type are good cars. Compare them with their direct peers and they are very competitive. The new XJ8 has great performance and economy, ride and handling and interior space. The XK8 is a great GT.
They are not everybody's cup of tea but then again I would hate a Lexus. It's just not for me.
When I think of the companies who were interested in Jaguar, I am sure that under GM or a GKN led consortium that Jaguar would be merely a nameplate rather than an evolved company.
I don't think I'm the only Jag guy with this opinion either.
I've got no problem with Jaguar making large saloons, I would still love a MkIII V12 XJ (without the rust). However they need a sports car to continue the lineage and the XK doesn't cut it.
Why do they have to appeal to every market with the diesel, 4wd, estate, SUV rubbish. Ford have filing cabinets full of brands that could cover this.
The original F-Type design would have attracted many new customers and I was pleading with Jag to sell me one.
Evidently, Ford don't see 20-30 somthing males as important Jag customers. On their own head be it.
Ian A.
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