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Jaguar Set to Launch Another Turnaround Plan


rmc523

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https://www.autoblog.com/2021/06/23/jaguar-turnaround-plan-new-lineup-luxury-compete-with-bentley/

 

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Jaguar wants to reinvent itself again, this time as a purveyor of EVs that competes in the luxury space dominated by Bentley. It outlined a turnaround plan written to help it move upmarket while launching a new range of models.

Company boss Thierry Bolloré, a French industry veteran who briefly ran Renault in the late 2010s, told British magazine Auto Express he wants Jaguar to represent what he described as "modern luxury." He added his vision of modern luxury is "extremely reductive" in terms of refinement, modernity, engineering, and technologies. Jaguar said it will go EV-only, yet it scrapped the next-generation XJ at the 11th hour in 2021 because the sedan didn't fit its image of a re-imagined brand. Making Jaguar synonymous with "modern luxury" requires starting from scratch.

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"The situation at Jaguar was really a concern from outside," said Bolloré after revealing Renault looked at purchasing Jaguar-Land Rover in the late 2010s, "and more than a concern from inside, because the brand has been damaged to a certain extent." That's why the turnaround plan calls for a blank slate to rebuild Jaguar on.

Design work for an entirely new range of Jaguar models has been completed, the executive affirmed, and Auto Express speculates the portfolio will initially consist of three models: a two-door sports car (likely a follow-up to the F-Type) and a pair of crossovers. Note that there's no sedan on the horizon. These three cars will ride on the same modular architecture, though it's too early to tell if it will be developed in-house or shared with another carmaker. They'll wear a new design language that was forged by holding an internal contest three teams participated in.

Competing with Bentley, among other carmakers, will require convincing customers to pay six-digit sums. "Luxury starts not far from £100,000," said Bolloré, a figure which represents about $140,000 at the current conversion rate. As of writing, none of Jaguar's models start above $100,000, though some cross that threshold once options are piled on. Its cheapest model, the E-Pace, starts at $39,950. Its most expensive is the electric I-Pace at $69,850.

 

I'm filing this under "good luck"

 

Sounds like a recipe for disaster if they're planning on having all their models start over 100k.

 

I also still think it's bizarre to cancel a product (EV XJ) that is literally done right before launch.

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What's more, they are going with basically a super luxury halo EV sport coupe and two crossovers that will have to compete with well-established and highly-regarded (though often in the shop) Land Rover crossovers and SUVs, sold at the same dealerships as Jaguars. Huh, maybe they should turn Jaguar into a super-luxury EV SUV sub-brand. I can see it now: the Land Rover Range Rover Jaguar EVX. ;)

Edited by Gurgeh
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18 hours ago, rmc523 said:

I also still think it's bizarre to cancel a product (EV XJ) that is literally done right before launch.

 

Yes sir, it was bizarre. However, it now makes sense in the context of their statement "Making Jaguar synonymous with "modern luxury" requires starting from scratch." The time is right to completely re-invent the Jaguar brand.

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5 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

Yes sir, it was bizarre. However, it now makes sense in the context of their statement "Making Jaguar synonymous with "modern luxury" requires starting from scratch." The time is right to completely re-invent the Jaguar brand.

 

You sure do like pulling from press releases lol.

 

It must've been terrible if it was so unrelated to what their new plan is.  If it had been a new XE that they canned because they want to focus upmarket - or even if it were another ICE XJ - I'd understand it more.  But they cancelled their top end model that reaches into 6 figures already, and it was an EV.....just doesn't make much sense.

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14 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

It must've been terrible if it was so unrelated to what their new plan is.  If it had been a new XE that they canned because they want to focus upmarket - or even if it were another ICE XJ - I'd understand it more.  But they cancelled their top end model that reaches into 6 figures already, and it was an EV.....just doesn't make much sense.

 

The cancellation of new XJ was mostly due to the fact it used an older platform called MLA. Jaguar is now developing a new, more advanced modular BEV platform that will the foundation for the brand's transition to 100% electric vehicles. The new platform is better suited for Jaguar's move upscale.

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On 6/24/2021 at 2:12 PM, rperez817 said:

 

The cancellation of new XJ was mostly due to the fact it used an older platform called MLA. Jaguar is now developing a new, more advanced modular BEV platform that will the foundation for the brand's transition to 100% electric vehicles. The new platform is better suited for Jaguar's move upscale.

 

It was done.  You can repeat their press release all you want, but it just doesn't make sense to me.

Edited by rmc523
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19 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

It was done.  You can repeat their press release all you want, but it just doesn't make sense to me.

 

Think of the decision to abandon new Jaguar XJ from the perspective of sunk cost, specifically with the goal of avoiding "sunk cost fallacy". Then JLR's decision should make sense. Why should sunk costs be ignored in future decision making? (investopedia.com)

Edited by rperez817
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  • 2 weeks later...

The problem with Jaguar is that it is trying to pivot to SUV while in the same house of Land Rover and the Range Rover sub-brand. 

 

Pretend Buick-Pontiac-GMC was still a thing and GM said it will pivot Pontiac to a SUV brand when both Buick and GMC as well as the Denali sub-brand are all already SUV brands. That's basically what is happening with Jaguar.

 

The problem of changing Jaguar to an upscale SUV brand is of course that you already have Range Rover and it is much easier to move that upscale... it won't require convincing people since it is already an upscale SUV brand. 

 

In my opinion, the only way forward for Jaguar is to become a sporty SUV brand. Think about what brand attributes Land Rover and Range Rover stands for... If you draw a Venn diagram of Land Rover, Range Rover, and Jaguar, the center overlap should be "SUV" and only that. Land Rover should occupy the rugged SUV corner. Range Rover should occupy the luxury corner. That leaves Jaguar to cover the sporty corner. Forget sedans obviously... that is never going to work for Jaguar against the German brands. 

 

A line up consist of only SUVs and a single sports car (F-Type) should work pretty well for Jaguar. Tata just need to make sure Jaguar's version of the SUV is the sporties with best handling out of the trio.

 

Size | Land Rover "Rugged" | Range Rover "Luxury" | Jaguar "Sport"

Compact | Discovery Sport | RR Evoque | E-Pace 

Midsize | Defender | RR Velar | F-Pace

Large | Discovery | RR Sport | J-Pace

Flagship | n/a | Range Rover | n/a

Sports car | n/a | n/a | F-Type 

 

 

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7 hours ago, bzcat said:

The problem with Jaguar is that it is trying to pivot to SUV while in the same house of Land Rover and the Range Rover sub-brand. 

 

Pretend Buick-Pontiac-GMC was still a thing and GM said it will pivot Pontiac to a SUV brand when both Buick and GMC as well as the Denali sub-brand are all already SUV brands. That's basically what is happening with Jaguar.

 

The problem of changing Jaguar to an upscale SUV brand is of course that you already have Range Rover and it is much easier to move that upscale... it won't require convincing people since it is already an upscale SUV brand. 

 

In my opinion, the only way forward for Jaguar is to become a sporty SUV brand. Think about what brand attributes Land Rover and Range Rover stands for... If you draw a Venn diagram of Land Rover, Range Rover, and Jaguar, the center overlap should be "SUV" and only that. Land Rover should occupy the rugged SUV corner. Range Rover should occupy the luxury corner. That leaves Jaguar to cover the sporty corner. Forget sedans obviously... that is never going to work for Jaguar against the German brands. 

 

A line up consist of only SUVs and a single sports car (F-Type) should work pretty well for Jaguar. Tata just need to make sure Jaguar's version of the SUV is the sporties with best handling out of the trio.

 

Size | Land Rover "Rugged" | Range Rover "Luxury" | Jaguar "Sport"

Compact | Discovery Sport | RR Evoque | E-Pace 

Midsize | Defender | RR Velar | F-Pace

Large | Discovery | RR Sport | J-Pace

Flagship | n/a | Range Rover | n/a

Sports car | n/a | n/a | F-Type 

 

 

 

That's basically what they have now, but with a couple of sedans.

 

 

And Defender is not midsize, that thing is huge lol.

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1 hour ago, rmc523 said:

 

That's basically what they have now, but with a couple of sedans.

 

 

And Defender is not midsize, that thing is huge lol.

 

Jaguar's current SUVs are not particularly sporty. They definitely don't drive like Porsche Macan or Alfa Romeo Stelvio.  Land Rover and Range Rover has the competition with Audi, BMW and Mercedes SUV covered. Jaguar has nowhere to go unless they commit to being the sporty brand in the family. 

 

The Defender is pretty big but I'm thinking the next generation Discovery and RR Sport will be even bigger. Also Defender comes in 2 door which of course is definitely mid size. 

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18 hours ago, bzcat said:

 

Jaguar's current SUVs are not particularly sporty. They definitely don't drive like Porsche Macan or Alfa Romeo Stelvio.  Land Rover and Range Rover has the competition with Audi, BMW and Mercedes SUV covered. Jaguar has nowhere to go unless they commit to being the sporty brand in the family. 

 

The Defender is pretty big but I'm thinking the next generation Discovery and RR Sport will be even bigger. Also Defender comes in 2 door which of course is definitely mid size. 

 

They're adding a Defender 130 as well that has even more room behind the rear wheel.

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