The reasons for the drop of the red line and the steady rise of the grey line on today’s chart are perhaps too numerous to count.
Additional product for one brand. Less intervention at another.
A move toward high-riding vehicles helped one brand. A move away from traditional cars harmed the other. These two factors are made all the more apparent when one brand employs a full lineup of SUVs/crossovers and the other has yet to bring its first utility vehicle to market.
One brand’s message has been artfully constructed over a few decades; the other’s has been muddied for at least a generation.
Both have been labelled as dreadfully unreliable at different points. One brand has had trouble discarding that label; the other has succeeded in spite of it.
Both British brands were Ford-owned but now find themselves under the wing of India’s Tata Group.
These lines could yet head in similar directions. Jaguar will begin to sell a crossover and a lower-priced sedan. Land Rover’s Discovery Sport could buoy the brand’s lower range, as the majority of the company’s U.S. sales are produced by the trio of Range Rover-branded products.
At the moment, however, Land Rover USA sales are better than they’ve ever been thanks to a market which is increasingly keen on this type of vehicle and the brand’s broadest product range ever. Jaguar USA, on the other hand, sold nearly 16,000 S-Types in 2002 but might not sell that many XJs, XFs, XKs, and F-Types in total this year.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.
I wonder if you did a similar chart reflecting tow truck purchases by Jaguar vs. Land Rover dealers if it would follow the same path?
Buy ’em used from Carmax with the warranty and enjoy
They are reliable now.They no longer use Lucas (the prince of darkness) electrical components.
Reliable? Race you to the dealer in my Honda
Now why would Jaguar sells be so bad. Wouldn’t it be entirely due to the fact that its one of the few Luxury brands that have refused to build an SUV or highriding whatever you call it.
Every brand with the exception of Rolls Royce, Maserati, and Bentley lack SUV/CUV/crossover/whatever. None of those brands have suffered the lack of one as much as Jaguar. Its one of the few that makes Cadillac not look so bad in comparison, the only one. And I don’t believe that Jag has anyone to say a SUV from them is heresy, unlike what Porsche had. So what gives Jaguar.
Huh, what? What do you think the Jaguar C-X17 is?
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02723/Jaguar-C-X17-10_jp_2723776k.jpg
It’s quite beautiful I might add. Bentley will have their SUV out next year and Maserati is developing one
A vehicle that isn’t on sell yet.
Jag dealers have are still waiting for it. And unlike Maserati they need it today. I know all three mentioned are getting one but Jag sales have been showing how much they need one. Luckily since, at least to my knowledge, most Jag dealers also sell Land Rovers. So at least their not doing that badly.
You’re splitting hairs, both the Jaguar and Bentley SUVs will be available within a few months. You talk as if Jaguar is “above it all” for not having one, they do. Even Rolls Royce will have an SUV by 2018, BMW is building the production capability as we speak
But until this point has Rolls Royce, Bentley, or Maserati suffered for not having one to sell. I think the answer is, no they have not.
I think I’m just showing my disappointment in where Jaguar is at present involving their US sales and brand perception. Obviously that answer speaks a lot to my emotions towards them. Their almost like VW or Mitsubishi with how their US sales risible a rollercoaster ride. Up down up down.
Obviously their customers are asking for SUVs otherwise they wouldn’t bother to develop them
It just took them so long. My question is, Is Jags leadership similar to other British car brands with their perception of an branded SUV. We very well know how some refused in the 90s about a BMW or Cadillac branded SUV. Did Jaguar’s executives have a similar stance or was it something involved with the Ford transfer or not have the resources to make it?
I think we should be giving them kudos for not joining this ridiculous trend, not comparing their sales to Land Rover.
Absolutely right, I think dignity is the reason they have refused to join the trend. It might be loosening now, but for many, many, many years this was the reason Rolls Royce, Bentley, Maserati, Ferrari, et al have also refused.
Problem is, they can survive without the extra sales (at the cost of brand damage), whereas Jaguar seemingly cannot.
Dignity? Its a market segment that customers want vehicles from. I could understand the dignity argument if it was a hatchback or pickup truck. The popularity of SUVs and the insatiable demand for them proves that buyers do not look down at then but the opposite. It more honestly appear that it is a case of management being conservative and stuck up in their ways as opposed to making what their customers want.
For the record Bentley has already done the undignified thing and produced a Bentley labeled SUV. The Bentley Dominator.
http://www.bentleyspotting.com/2011/08/bentley-dominator-for-royal-family-of.html
And I’m certain Maserati was just too broke.
See, I told you…
Like I mentioned earlier. Took them long enough.
English cars, like the Monarchy are NOT faddish…or, as some would argue, relevant
I wasn’t aware we were waiting for the SUV fad to pass. It certainly is taking its sweet sweet time.
We weren’t, the British auto manufacturers were and as usual, they were caught with their pants down and now they’re playing catch-up. Kind of like Mercedes and fins, when they finally put little finlets on their cars the world had moved on
The SUV trend did pass, about 6 years ago. We’re waiting for the CUV trend to pass, and it will.
I hope you’re not holding your breath…
Food for thought. XE and commensurate platform is unnecessary. Could yield more volume and higher profits from rebadged Land Rovers. Similar story with Cadillac. Would have been better to make a fleet of mini-Slades based on existing platforms, than the ATS/CTS that nobody but auto journalists and contrarians care about. Speaking from a strictly business POV of course.
At some point customers will not accept rebadged anything, my guess is that point is somewhere north of a $150K
“Bentley” customers buy rebadged unsalable VWs at three times the price.
Well, let’s pretend the Phaeton doesn’t exist, shall me? Everybody else does
There’s also the issue of how does a company want to define their brand. Sure they could do just a few very profitable vehicles but then they may not be able to define themselves the way they want to.
Apparently even the well heeled like to play in the mud from time to time, but I assure you only the best designer mud will do
I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Porsche is the best example of this. The bulk of the vehicles they sell are ugly SUVs. But for the most part when people say Porsche you think “911”. SUVs would give Jag the money to make the low volume cars that stand out and “define the brand”. For example right now you say Jag to the avg enthusiast, their first response will probably be “F-Type” even though there are like 3-4 other Jag models. An XE or XF could be mistaken for a Buick. Jag needs to take control of its image.
Yes, all the peon crossovers make the low volume elitist snobmobiles possible… and don’t you forget it
Was this supposed to be sarcasm? The companies that do it your way end up like Lotus.
Me? sarcasm?… neVAH!
Tata bought Jaguar because he really liked Land Rover .He gave Jaguar freedom to develop vehicles .Whatever they are doing must be right,because they are making money and expanding.Ford era was dictated by bean counters,who looked like tourists touring the plants.
When the tourists hold all the beans they can look like anything they want
The Ford era for Jaguar wasn’t a complete waste. Jaguars made after Ford’s acquisition were so much better than the ones before. The cars Jaguar was making were worst than the same model year Ford Taurus. A Taurus was a better built vehicle.
“Jaguars made after Ford’s acquisition were so much better ”
The ones that were rebadged Fords were better, but no one thought they were Jaguars
Um no. Ford bought Jaguar in 1989. Jaguar only had the XJS and XJ then. The build quality of both of those were dramatically improved, now I said build quality not reliability. The S-Type (disclosure: I like those) didn’t show up until 1999 and the X-Type (not those) in 2001.
That’s a decade.😀
And who doesn’t think of the S-Type as being a proper Jag.
I was talking about the little Ford Mystique Jaguars. I test drove one when they first came out, nice little car performed a lot like a tarted up Ford, ended up with a Mercedes C-Class… should’ve went with the tarted up Ford :(
Is this where I chime in that I have a strange obsession for X-type wagons?
I for one welcome a Jaguar CUV/whatever. You just know it will have style…
I could be mistaken, but the F Type is the only Jaguar in the current lineup to be mostly the result of Tata’s money, not Ford’s. Ford paid for the aluminum architecture that underpins the XJ, Ford paid for the development of the Jaguar V8 used in most Jaguar and Land Rover products, and Ford paid for the development of the XF, which replaces the S Type. There’s probably some Ford money in the V6 engines too.
JLR was “well bought”, as they say in the collectors’ world, because Tata acquired them after Ford had dumped billions into the company, renewing it’s model lineup.
A lot of the sales decline happened during the production run of the previous XJ, which was all new, with that aluminum platform, but looked like a traditional XJ. I’m an XJ enthusiast from way back and I had a hard time telling it from the previous model, even though it was all new. While I love the traditional XJ design, it was undoubtedly dated in the eyes of consumers. I do know that when I’ve had the XF and current XJ for reviews, people say very complimentary things about the way they look. At first I thought the XF was kind of generic in a BMW/Lexus/Infiniti way, but it’s carved out an identity.
I think the story in the post Ford era is more that LR has done very well, than that Jaguar has done poorly. LR had a big spike in 2010 as the economy started recovering following the credit crisis in ’07 and ’08, followed by a less dramatic increase. Jaguar’s sales are also up from ’09, though not as dramatically. Still, looking at the chart above, Jaguar sales are up about 40 to 50 percent from ’09.
And yes, quality dramatically increased during the Ford years. I’ll have to see the data to see if they’re as good as competitors today, or even ballpark, but there’s no question that Jaguars are better built and more reliable post-Ford than pre-Ford.
You are the winner here. I recall that Ford culled the best Jag the could find after a day (or week) off the line and it had ten times the defects than a randomly pull Taurus. Yet most would not believe it today. I guess those are the same dopes who say Chrysler dragged down Daimler.
There’s a current Jaguar XJ on my block. I can see why most people resist them. It is not an attractive car. The XF is simply invisible, managing to blend in with its quilt of Infinity, Volvo, Lexus, and Hyundai design cues and shapes.
Agreed on the XF. It doesn’t stand out at all. A mish mash of design cues that result in the whole being less than the sum of it’s parts and it looks like the XE will travel the same well worn path.
Jag is stuck. Their “retro” design language just doesn’t work on modern cars, and regulatory/competitive constraints limit how much they can venture out.
Plus, Jag’s old “intimate cabin” feel won’t fly today, unless they basically make an F-Type sedan. But that will be a low volume car.
I think TTAC is telling us all to either go outs*de or take a nap.
We had a mini ice storm last night, even my jacked-up 4WD crossover doesn’t like ice :(
Krap… give me 14″ of powder, fine, but eff that ice storm poop.
If that’s what you’ve got outs*de, may as well stay in and try to find something interesting to say about what’s left of British snooty cars.
My comment is awaiting moderation. I don’t know what I screwed up. I think I’ll throw a tantrum for something to do that’s more interesting than what’s left of British snooty cars.
You sad something bad and now you must be moderated… We’re watching you
At last! I’ve finally attracted the attention that every privacy freak secretly craves!
Say it ain’t so.
How you feelin’?
Me? Awesome, thanks. I’m goin’ on a trip!
I’ll send you guys some FEMA postcards.
(I hope those jump suits are mostly cotton)
Camp FEMA? Nice, don’t let the chemtrails get you
Somewhat better, thanks for asking. My advice is to avoid MedExpress in the future as both the initial strep test and initial exam missed the strep the 3 day throat culture test caught. I wouldn’t have a bone to pick if I didn’t tell them my gf was diagnosed the previous day with strep and it was actually taken into account by Bangalore MD, but I digress.
People buy Land Rovers because they want a LAND ROVER. They buy Jaguars because they want a luxury sedan. Let’s face it, in the luxury sedan market, as Cadillac found out it’s pretty darn hard to top MB, BMW and Audi.
Jaguar suffers from a lack of across the board AWD, especially on it’s V8 models. One can get an S-Class, 7-Series, A8, or heck even an LS or Infiniti M with a V8 and AWD.
If Jag wants to sell more cars, they need to make their goal to be #1 in the Consumer Reports reliability index. They could spin a whole media campaign about it afterwords too.
While AWD is vital in the luxury segment, I don’t know how much not offering AWD with a V8 hurts them and you can now get AWD on all three Jaguars, the XJ, XF and F Type. Ninety percent of luxury vehicle sales in North America have V6 engines (not counting loaded full size pickups as luxury vehicles). The total number of V8/AWD luxury sedans sold in North America, I’m guessing, can’t be more than 50,000 units. The V6/AWD combination has become such a staple of the luxury segment that I think that Chrysler’s had a good idea to put the Chrysler 200 with AWD and a six at just under $30,000, putting that drivetrain combo at a new price point, helping Chrysler’s supposed brand image as near luxury.
While I think it’s generally necessary, image and performance wise, for a luxury brand to have at least one eight (or more) cylinder engine in its portfolio, the reality is that eights are a small part of the luxury segment.
Wow, without googling the night away I’m having a tough time just coming up with a handful of V8/AWD luxury sedans
Just about every S-Class puttering around the streets is an S550 4Matic.
That was one I could think of
…..One brand has had trouble discarding that label; the other has succeeded in spite of it….
Actually, the lousy reliability of the Rover plays to its advantage. Lousy reliability means lousy resale. And yet they sell in big numbers in the very wealthy suburbs. Every three years, another one in the driveway. Lots of money wasted and that tells your neighbors you can afford to throw your money away. In that regard Rover deserves kudos. They took attributes that would kill a mass market brand and turned it into a huge marketing advantage. I’m waiting to see someone with a plate that says “BLAK DOT”
You make an interesting point, but by your assertion it is implied PAG and later JLR was “in on it” at some level (even if it was only to turn a blind eye to quality control). Even though LR has some steep depreciation, nearly (if not) everything European post 2000 has a steep drop off after the fourth of fifth model year. The real Japanese brands (so not Mitsu/Suzuki) are the only ones who I can think of who buck the trend with more graceful depreciation after two model years.
Most jl buyers are after maximum status for minimum lease. They can’t really afford. Wait for the price of gas to go back up.
And this is based on…….?
What does price of gas have to do with any of this? $2.60 and $3.50 really don’t make a life changing difference, maybe eat out one less time every two weeks if money is tight, but the cars that are $<80k have reasonable fuel figures.
When you plot unit sales (as opposed to dollar volume) the lower end vehicles of any badge predominate the data. Under Ford ownership, the lower end Jag was just a tarted up Ford fashioned for the UK market. Taking an American design modified for the Euro market and reimporting it to North America has never worked, e.g. Mercur, et.al.
The baby Jag was, as I recall, not really a hit in the UK. Even Jeremy Clarkson had very little good to say about it.
The Landies had one model with horrendous reliability, but they apparently have survived it. David Beckham’s choice to finish his career in LA seems to have helped their advertising.
When commentators make 30 separate one-line comments, it really screws up the whole system. How about a limit of two or three comments per-story? Try to gather your thoughts first.
Anyway, I’m starting to have doubts about TTAC in general. Is there no explanation about Steve Lang’s absence? I thought there was going to also be something more about Baruth leaving.
This guy, Tim Cain, is fantastic, by the way. Keep up the great work.
When did Baruth leave, he was just here last week.
Lang thing was personal, there’s nothing else to be said.
“Baruth leaving.”
Heh, yeah… optimist much?
I’ve owned many Land Rovers since 1997 of almost every model, and they are no less reliable than any other Euro brand I’ve owned. And except for Italian cars, I’ve owned every Euro brand. I agree that lack of SUV has hurt Jag, but thats why there is Land Rover. Is Tata complaining?