29 September 2007

Jaguar Pulls A Prince

http://www.wheels.ca/newsFeatures/article/31797

The Jaguar name will be dropped from the marque's cars in a few years, says design chief Ian Callum.
Let us now run down the multitude of idiocies that are in the process of being carried out at Jaguar, and by extension Ford.

  • An ongoing onslaught of shitty cars that can't compete in their respective segments either because they're just outright horrible, or even worse for a Jaguar, boring.
  • An 'all new' design direction that looks like it has cribbed various elements from Lexus, Infiniti and BMW.
  • Floundering public perception and a complete lack of direction.
  • Being sold to a 3rd rate 3rd world manufacturer named Tata (admittedly not the fault of Jaguar)
  • And our latest 3 Stooges move- removing the Jaguar name from the vehicle.
Now the question I'm sure some are asking is- why is it a dumb move?

Well, first of all, you have to understand the place of Jaguar in the current marketplace. It HAS no place. It's a lost child. A wandering soul with no home. It prices cars above the established big dogs in the luxury segment based on past performance and recognition that no longer registers with buyers. It designs cars to look like Mini Me Aston Martins (not bad for any other maker, but it's a JAGUAR damn it). Basically, Jaguar is up Shit River without a paddle. Or a functioning toilet. And now, their brilliant move is to erase their name off of vehicles that are supposed to give them a new place in the market- vehicles that are supposed to remove the stale taste of crap they've been offering over the last 20 years.

Unfortunately, no one will know what just passed them now.

Kudos Jaguar.

1 comment:

Jonathan said...

you're wrong and an idiot . Been to a jag dealer lately?