Wednesday 12th January 2005

Jaguar puts brave face on 2004

We did well, says ailing Ford subsidiary

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Jaguar is putting a brave face on what's been a very tough year for the Coventry-based Ford subsidiary. Jaguar's losses last year amounted to a massive £601 million -- which puts the end of car production at the Brown's Lane plant and the departure from the hugely expensive F1 scene into context -- and it had to go cap in hand to Ford for cash.

But Jaguar's take is that in Europe, things went well, and it achieved "best ever results for the UK and European markets overall, driven by expansion of the product line-up to include new Jaguar Diesels and the X-TYPE Estate."

Overall sales in the UK for 2004 reached record levels totalling 32,598 cars, an 11.2 per cent improvement over last year, and 9.4 per cent up on the previous record in 2002. European sales of 24,337 cars helped achieve best ever results with a 24.6 per cent improvement over 2003. Global sales in 2004 totalled 118,918 (compared with 120,570 in 2003).

US performance

The company's overall performance was, however, slowed by tough trading conditions in the key US market, where a 16.4 per cent downturn was seen, year-on-year. A significant shift by US customers away from premium saloon cars to premium SUVs, high incentive activity in the US premium car sector and the strength of sterling versus the dollar all contributed to this trend.

Jaguar nonetheless enjoyed success in the US, with the launch of its eagerly anticipated XJ LWB and recently the X-TYPE Estate. The introduction of the long-wheelbase version of the XJ contributed to a 4.5 per cent rise in its share of this key market.

Jaguar says its North American operation is also riding high on recent successes in vehicle quality and customer service, ranking first in J.D. Power and Associates’ 2004 SSI (Sales Satisfaction Index), whilst Jaguar finished third overall – the highest-placed European nameplate - in J. D. Power's 2004 initial quality study. Jaguar was also awarded 'Best Luxury' car programme for its certified pre-owned scheme. Success on the racetrack also continues with Jaguar winning its second consecutive Trans-am series manufacturers’ championship and the company’s fourth win in the series overall.

Bibiana Boerio, Managing Director of Jaguar, said: "2004 was a very tough year for Jaguar; we didn't achieve the sales we wanted, but we made progress in all our markets. We strengthened our position in the UK and Europe with the expansion of our diesel line-up and we have refocused our efforts in the US and Japan."

PistonHeads wishes all at Jaguar a better 2005.

[crbox]

I so wish jaguar would consider going back to making to affordable, beautiful, powerful cars with a fairly basic spec.
When the E type came out in '66 everybody was amazed at the performance styling and value.

The thing is it doesn't cost more to build a great looking two seater, than a naff looking XK.

If I ran Jaguar Model devt, I reccomend a mid engined two seater, based on a revamp of the short span XJR15 racer.
It's already done and looks fantastic.

I'd dump all the costly to design, purchase and install electronic creature comforts.

We'd offer:
One motor only V6 or V8
Basic heating system not climate control
Electric windows
Manual air con
Manual seats
Alcantara interior, s/ wheel
Manual locking
No auto options
No wheel choices
No sunroof
Imobiliser
Optional satnav & sound system.

Target price £44,000 (Based upon Lotus Exige being smaller and costing about £33,000)

I'm convinced all this is achievable on target.

Can Jaguar honestly say that if they did this, we wouldn't all be chucking our chequebooks at them the day it was announced.

[wokkadriver]

crbox said:

I so wish jaguar would consider going back to making to affordable, beautiful, powerful cars with a fairly basic spec. When the E type came out in '66 everybody was amazed at the performance styling and value. The thing is it doesn't cost more to build a great looking two seater, than a naff looking XK. If I ran Jaguar Model devt, I reccomend a mid engined two seater, based on a revamp of the short span XJR15 racer. It's already done and looks fantastic. I'd dump all the costly to design, purchase and install electronic creature comforts. We'd offer: One motor only V6 or V8 Basic heating system not climate control Electric windows Manual air con Manual seats Alcantara interior, s/ wheel Manual locking No auto options No wheel choices No sunroof Imobiliser Optional satnav & sound system. Target price £44,000 (Based upon Lotus Exige being smaller and costing about £33,000) I'm convinced all this is achievable on target. Can Jaguar honestly say that if they did this, we wouldn't all be chucking our chequebooks at them the day it was announced.

Hmm, yes.

And you could call it a Tamora, too.

[JagLover]

44K seems alot of money to pay for a car with no modern or luxury features, the market for it would be limited. Particularly among potential Jaguar owners, rather than those more interested in other marques such as TVR.

Given that the majority of XJ's and XK's are sold in America do you really see this being a successful strategy?.

[crbox]

JagLover said:

44K seems alot of money to pay for a car with no modern or luxury features, the market for it would be limited. Particularly among potential Jaguar owners, rather than those more interested in other marques such as TVR. Given that the majority of XJ's and XK's are sold in America do you really see this being a successful strategy?.

I think so.
Porsche have had strong sale with the GT3 and have announced Club sport versions of the 997 and Boxster coupe.
As a bonus, these high profile models usually bring image enhancement to the mainstream range.
The majority of Jags are sold in the US because in this country, not all enthusiasts care for the somewhat glitzy image of the XK8.
The model suggested would remind people of Jaguars competition heritage and add credibility to Jaguars crestfallen image.
Incidentaly and as a simpler execise the XK8 could be suitably modified into a club sport.


>> Edited by crbox on Wednesday 12th January 15:29

[groomi]

crbox said:

I so wish jaguar would consider going back to making to affordable, beautiful, powerful cars with a fairly basic spec. When the E type came out in '66 everybody was amazed at the performance styling and value. The thing is it doesn't cost more to build a great looking two seater, than a naff looking XK. If I ran Jaguar Model devt, I reccomend a mid engined two seater, based on a revamp of the short span XJR15 racer. It's already done and looks fantastic. I'd dump all the costly to design, purchase and install electronic creature comforts. We'd offer: One motor only V6 or V8 Basic heating system not climate control Electric windows Manual air con Manual seats Alcantara interior, s/ wheel Manual locking No auto options No wheel choices No sunroof Imobiliser Optional satnav & sound system. Target price £44,000 (Based upon Lotus Exige being smaller and costing about £33,000) I'm convinced all this is achievable on target. Can Jaguar honestly say that if they did this, we wouldn't all be chucking our chequebooks at them the day it was announced.

The 'tub' fo the XJR15 was taken straight from the XJR9 prototype racer and was therefore made with hand laid carbon-fibre. Extremeley labour intensive and therefore expensive.

In reality the chassis would have to be completely redesigned to be mass produced, therefore compromises would be made with weight and stiffness so the handling wouldn't be so good... and low and behold you are back to the design process used anyway.

I agree about making simple attractive cars, but keep it real about how achievable that actually is.

[wokkadriver]

Seems to be a bit of a flawed argument, given that the statistics in the article at the head of the page say that european sales are amongst the best ever for Jaguar, and US sales are down, and to quote their own literature, Jaguar 'promises and delivers legendary levels of comfort and sporting, agile handling.' Even Clarkson, upon testing the then new XK8, said

It's a heavy weight which will tolerate brutal treatment on brutal roads, but, quite frankly, it would rather you grew up... It's my kind of car, too, a big, V8, GT. It's magnificent.'

I don't think there is any place for a mini Jaguar in the already bloated small 2 seater market, awash with Lotus, MG, BMW, Mazda, TVR, etc, etc, particularly when you are talking about the prices you are.

Furthermore, look at the initial appalling press that the x types received, and also, look at the useless efforts BMW have made at a 4x4. It all goes to prove that you shouldn't go too far outside your specialist niche. Lotus aced it with the Elise, but they have been doing the lightweight sportscar thing for years.

[corozin]

I've seen some spin doctoring in my life, but how anyone can say that there is good news buried inside a £601m annual loss stretches credibility more than a bit.

[groomi]

corozin said:

I've seen some spin doctoring in my life, but how anyone can say that there is good news buried inside a £601m annual loss stretches credibility more than a bit.

Anybody would think they're the government

[crbox]

groomi said:

crbox said: I so wish jaguar would consider going back to making to affordable, beautiful, powerful cars with a fairly basic spec. When the E type came out in '66 everybody was amazed at the performance styling and value. The thing is it doesn't cost more to build a great looking two seater, than a naff looking XK. If I ran Jaguar Model devt, I reccomend a mid engined two seater, based on a revamp of the short span XJR15 racer. It's already done and looks fantastic. I'd dump all the costly to design, purchase and install electronic creature comforts. We'd offer: One motor only V6 or V8 Basic heating system not climate control Electric windows Manual air con Manual seats Alcantara interior, s/ wheel Manual locking No auto options No wheel choices No sunroof Imobiliser Optional satnav & sound system. Target price £44,000 (Based upon Lotus Exige being smaller and costing about £33,000) I'm convinced all this is achievable on target. Can Jaguar honestly say that if they did this, we wouldn't all be chucking our chequebooks at them the day it was announced. The 'tub' fo the XJR15 was taken straight from the XJR9 prototype racer and was therefore made with hand laid carbon-fibre. Extremeley labour intensive and therefore expensive. In reality the chassis would have to be completely redesigned to be mass produced, therefore compromises would be made with weight and stiffness so the handling wouldn't be so good... and low and behold you are back to the design process used anyway. I agree about making simple attractive cars, but keep it real about how achievable that actually is.

I didn't mean with a manufacturing process, exactly as the XJR15. I meant in the style of.
Lotus see to be managing it OK with the Exige. Surely the only difference is a larger size car with a higher capacity and more sophisticated motor.
My co makes components for several 'exotic' motor companies and we hope to be making parts for the MacLaren SLR any time now.
I can tell you the difference in manuf. cost of an 18" brake disc is only 20% more than an 11" one and that includes material.

[hendry]

crbox said:

I didn't mean with a manufacturing process, exactly as the XJR15. I meant in the style of. Lotus see to be managing it OK with the Exige. Surely the only difference is a larger size car with a higher capacity and more sophisticated motor.

I am not sure the manufacturing methods can be so lightly brushed aside. As was said earlier, you can't produce a carbon car for £44k (MG SV anyone?), so the tub would have to be re-engineered from scratch, which means starting the design from scratch - so if that is the task, Jaguar may as well do it in a sector that has greater demand and return. And the biggest global market is the US, where a heavy GT car in the mould of the XK8/R is more welcome than a lithe pseudo-racer (it's a sure bet that demand for the 996 Turbo in the US outsriped that for the GT3).

I don't know how to fix Jaguar by the way, if it needs fixing. Maybe Ford just need to reign in their excitement and drop their targets. Closing Browns Lane won't do any harm. No body has turned their back on Aston now they no longer make the top sellers in Newport Pagnell.

[b10]

Surprised that Jaguar have not had the kind of bashing from the press as MG Rover did over their consideravly lower losses that are on a downward trend as opposed to Jag's upward trend. They are probably not being critised because they are not a British owned company

[mondayo]

hendry said:

[quote=crbox] I don't know how to fix Jaguar by the way, if it needs fixing. Maybe Ford just need to reign in their excitement and drop their targets. Closing Browns Lane won't do any harm. No body has turned their back on Aston now they no longer make the top sellers in Newport Pagnell.

I think Jaguar now have a pretty decent line up of cars. The X-type is good, and now there is a diesel and estate version, they have most of the bases covered in that sector. According to press reports, the S-type and XJ are both very good.
However, there biggest problem still seems to be image and the lack of a good one. The idea of the X type was to attract a younger customer to the brand, and yet all its done is attract older customers who are downsizing from an Xj for example.

What they need to do is get cars right from Day 1. Anyone who knows anything about cars knows that the X type is a glorified mondeo. And on that basis they're never going to swap their 3 series for a Jag.

BM can get away with selling cars that arent amazing (Z3 anyone) but because it has a BMW badge, people want to buy it....and that is what Jag needs to do.

First step has got to be stop building cars on other ford platforms that are compromised and unsuitable.

[Ed]

The X-Type is only 20% Mondeo and if you get the right spec they drive bloody well.

Unless you have driven current Jags please refrain from make ill informed comments because it helps no one.

[Jon Gwynne]

crbox said:

I so wish jaguar would consider going back to making to affordable, beautiful, powerful cars with a fairly basic spec. When the E type came out in '66 everybody was amazed at the performance styling and value. The thing is it doesn't cost more to build a great looking two seater, than a naff looking XK. If I ran Jaguar Model devt, I reccomend a mid engined two seater, based on a revamp of the short span XJR15 racer. It's already done and looks fantastic. I'd dump all the costly to design, purchase and install electronic creature comforts. We'd offer: One motor only V6 or V8 Basic heating system not climate control Electric windows Manual air con Manual seats Alcantara interior, s/ wheel Manual locking No auto options No wheel choices No sunroof Imobiliser Optional satnav & sound system. Target price £44,000 (Based upon Lotus Exige being smaller and costing about £33,000) I'm convinced all this is achievable on target. Can Jaguar honestly say that if they did this, we wouldn't all be chucking our chequebooks at them the day it was announced.

I other words, you don't care about North American sales?

No American or Canadian is going to spend over (US)$70,000 or (CA) $85,000 for a "stripped down" car, yet that's what you're asking them to do. And rejecting an auto-box even as an option is just plain arrogant and silly. Jaguar isn't TVR or Noble, they already make cars with auto-boxes. The additional cost of offering them as an option is negligible.

Also, I think you may have a mistaken impression about how much things like climate-control systems and seat motors cost.

What Jaguar should have done was finish development of the F-type to go after the Boxter/Z4 market. Any marketing weasel who says that this isn't a lucrative market segment should ask themselves why Porsche and BMW are going at it so hard.

If the F-type could have been offered with the 3.0 liter V-6 from the X-type, at around £32-£35k, they would have had a winner on their hands.

In the meantime, if you really want a TVR/Noble, you can already buy them. Don't try to convince Jaguar to build another one.

[John Millar]

Jon Gwynne said:

Also, I think you may have a mistaken impression about how much things like climate-control systems and seat motors cost.

The xk8 was not going to have drivers seat height adjustment initally, but they then decided that was a mistake. To make the alterations in design and the manufacturing process cost one million pounds.

[crbox]

Jon Gwynne said:

1) I other words, you don't care about North American sales?


2) In the meantime, if you really want a TVR/Noble, you can already buy them. Don't try to convince Jaguar to build another one.[/quote]

Answers:

1)At 1.9$ to the £, I don't s'pose any exporters' too excited, just now.
Other car companys' survive on making cars that aren't exported to the US.

2)Sorry, call me old fashioned but I'd like a two seater with a Jaguar name on it.
Maybe when TVR and Noble win LeMans, you can compare them.

In retrospect, I guess from the responses here, I'm in the minority.
Heavily laden, highly equipped luxury sportscars is what the world seems to want......and deserves.
What ever happened to the skilled and proud Jaguar driver.....