News : Jaguar’s future plans

Diana T. Kurylko, Automotive News

The long-overdue replacement for the X-Type should be with you in 2014.
The long-overdue replacement for the X-Type should be with you in 2014.

JAGUAR is expected to add a sports car based on the C-X16 concept shown last month at the Frankfurt auto show. Executives said the car is nearly ready for production. Work also is under way on a compact saloon, but that car is a few years away from production, Jaguar officials said.

One of Jaguar’s disadvantages: Its main engine is the 5.0-litre V8 used in all three models — the XJ, XK and XF. New engines are in development but are unlikely to arrive for a few years. Tata Motors Ltd., which bought Jaguar from Ford Motor Co. three years ago, is investing $2.45bn combined annually in Jaguar and sibling division Land Rover over the next five years to develop new products, engines and production facilities.

Compact saloon:
Jaguar hasn’t offered a small saloon since it axed the X-Type after the 2008 model year. To get the volume it needs, Jaguar must offer a car priced under £30,000, so a sedan to compete with BMW’s 3 series is under development. Jaguar plans to launch the car with a V6, a four-cylinder turbo or both. A coupe also is being developed. The new compact saloon isn’t likely to arrive before 2014.

(Read AROnline‘s take on the X-Type replacement)

Sports car:
The C-X16 concept shown in Frankfurt hints at the production two-seat sports car expected as early as next year. The two-door coupe currently known as X152 and which is tipped to be called XT would compete with the Porsche Cayman. Jaguar calls the car “the spiritual successor to the E-type” that went on sale 50 years ago. The concept has a long hood and a short rear overhang. It is powered by a V6 engine with an unspecified displacement and a plug-in electric motor.

(Read AROnline‘s fuller analysis of the XT here)

XJ:
Redesigned a year ago, the sedan and its long-wheelbase XJL derivative aren’t likely to be freshened until 2013.

XF:
The saloon received a mild freshening this summer with a new bonnet, headlamps, grille and bumpers. The higher performance XFR received some sportier body pieces to set it apart from the base XF. Jaguar is working on a long-wheelbase version and estate  known as XFW for Europe. The XF likely will be redesigned in 2015. A coupe version known as XFC is also in development.

XK:
A redesign of Jaguar’s oldest model is expected in 2013.

C-X75:
Jaguar plans a production version of the hybrid supercar concept shown at last year’s Paris auto show. Production begins in 2013 and ends in 2015. Only 250 cars will be built, priced between $1.2m and $1.5m. The car will have plug-in electric motors on the front and rear axles. Jaguar has not disclosed other powertrain details for the car, which is being developed with the Williams F1 racing team and will use a lightweight carbonfibre chassis. The car is expected to have a top speed of more than 320km/h (200mph) and accelerate from 0-100km/h (62mph) in less than 3 seconds.

You can reach Diana T. Kurylko at dkurylko@crain.com.

[Source: Automotive News]

Keith Adams

26 Comments

  1. so no major surprises but these should broaden Jaguar’s appeal. As highlighted, the main problem is the engine line-up given where the company is trying to reposition itself from. Good engine development, especially to the extent of the technology involved in all the ancillaries does indeed take years and money, and they can no longer rely on Ford too heavily in the near future. Announcement of the new engine plant reinforces this. Hybrid powertrains will also need to make an appearance soon in mainstream vehicles and not just halo cars.. Exciting times ahead but also very risky times.. Jaguar aren’t out of the woods yet but the direction they are heading in is promising.

  2. Can I ask this question here as I’ve been unable to find an answer elsewhere?

    When, and why, did Jaguar stop producing Daimler versions of its cars?

  3. I’ve been wondering about that as well. It was said around the launch of X350 that Daimler would not come back unless it was possible to make it substantially different from the Jaguar line-up, but that turned out to be untrue. Odd as it is that the marque disappeared again without a word, the strangest thing of all is that the website redirected to Bentley Motors for a short while. At the time this made me suspect that Daimler had been sold but I have found no information whatsoever regarding this.

  4. @POK:

    You might not be aware that the recently renamed Jaguar Heritage Trust dropped the Daimler name from its official title.

    I, too, was hoping to see some reference to Daimler reappearing on a rebodied version of the current Jaguar XJ in order to take the company’s presence onwards and upwards, to compete with something like the Bentley Continental GT (albeit as a four-door saloon, not two-door Coupe).

    I believe the current strategy is to work more with the current active brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover and also make more of the Range Rover brand (just don’t let it be to detriment of there not being another Land Rover Discovery!!!).

    As for Daimler and potentially Rover as well, there may be the possibility to do something that is appropriately fitting for these brands, as and when market conditions allow and the company has continued to sustain its current level of profitability.

  5. Jag needs a compact saloon desperately to take the fight to the fleets of 320d and A4 TDis that litter business parks and outside lanes.

    Why the XF US-only? Might be a good competitor for the like of the 6-series.

    A compact hatch might do well, with BMW and Audi producing 1 series and A1 and making a mint out of it.

    As for Daimler, a shame it couldn’t be used for a halo model, to compete with RR/Maybach. A successor to the DS420.

  6. Why the XF coupe only for the US? Surely the success of the Audi A5 demonstrates that there is a market for it here. They could save some money by only offering it in the popular ‘regional buyer for a supermarket chain white’.

  7. WOW – reprinted direct from a press release, from some that doesnt really know a lot about how Jaguar are operating – the XFC and XFW will be available worldwide, the XF-Rs will be available properly next gen version.

    The XT is currently undergoing internal shakedowns and will be available in a number of body styles, the CX will be available initially in one style the Daimler brand could return in a very luxurious car, like a Rolls/Bentley competitor, but with teh economic downturn, this is looking less likely at present.

    Watch this space for more new models including another RR model within the next 12 months……

  8. @JagBoy:

    How much of this would have come from a press release issued by Jaguar Cars Ltd?

    The company might have greater reason to be optimistic about the future, but not even Jaguar would issue details about all its future models. Especially as they are still playing catch-up to at least three blue-chip premium marques who currently provide offerings that would compete with all of these speculated new models from Jaguar.

  9. “IIRC, was it not something to do with DaimlerChrysler AG becoming just Daimler AG once again?”

    Well it obviously avoids confusion, the original Daimler UK companies licence to build and sell Daimler branded cars is the reason we see Mercedes-Benz branded cars and not Daimler-Benz. Because Daimler-Benz AG were unable to sell Daimler branded cars within British Territory (at that time covering most of the world!)

    I think the main reason is just rationalisation of brands, they’re concentrating on a couple of brands. Rather than the mess that was BL having several different brands for the same basic car. I doubt we will ‘ever’ see Rover used on cars again, Daimler is a possibility with ultra high end cars, but the Rolls-Royce/Maybach market is very very niche. The last Daimlers i remember seeing on the road were owned by the co-op….. not a good image!

  10. How much of this would have come from a press release issued by Jaguar Cars Ltd?

    none of it… it was an Automotive piece of speculation

  11. Thanks for the replies I did wonder if Daimler AG had the ability to stop Jaguar using the name and that was the reason.

  12. I am quite excited about the XF Wagon.

    I want to like the XF. I think I should have bought the XF instead of the C6. However, the XF has one major problem from my perspective…

    The XJ is SO gorgeous inside.

    I guess I have to wait until I can afford all three. XK DHC, XF-W and XJ V8.

  13. For years Daimlers have merely been badge engineered Jaguars. It really screamed out for the same treatment Mercedes did with the Maybach name (albeit manufacturing a limousine that is actually desirable and attractive). However they don’t have the money to do this. Yet. A replacement for the DS420 would be great. I am fed up with seeing hearses and associated limousines based upon Vauxhall Carltons or Holden Statesmen!

  14. It would be nice to think that Daimler could return as a ultra high end marque to compete with Rolls Royce. It would take a massive amount of investment to achieve and in the current economic climate I doubt if anything will happen at the moment.
    However, a luxury car with a powerplant based on the gas turbine/hybrid CX-75 could provide the basis for a very desirable automobile.

  15. Why do they need an ultra high-end? If people are so determined to buy for the veblen-good qualities of a Bentley or Maybach-type thing, the sheer brand dilution and erosion of Daimler as anything other than a rippled grille on a Co-op funeral car would require an immense spend to overcome; the XJ skirts the base of six figures and without having driven one, the fit, finish and feel of it is more than satisfactory for the high end.

    Given the choice between a Continental or Spur, or XJ, I would have the XJ without hesitation; greater brand purity, a more pleasing interior and a very stylish car which does enough to say “expense” without essentially being a $64,000 watch which cannot tell the time in car form.

  16. @ Richard Kilpatrick

    I must confess that I do not share your sentiments over the brand ‘greatness’ of Jaguar. In some ways it is a flawed brand that is still playing catch-up, is still remembered for indifferent built quality issues, poor customer service from the dealers and a model range that was compromised by having a design strategy majoring on nostalgia rather than being forward thinking.

    Given the lower exposure Daimler had to these issues due to its rarity status, it possibly has not been as tarnished as Jaguar.

    That said, the last two years for Jaguar Cars has been amazing and are a definite step along the right path.

    A Jaguar to rival a Bentley model or flagship Mercedes Benz S-Class? At the moment it is a tall order for the Jaguar brand to realistically achieve, based on the reasons already given. Daimler is a potential possibility, although only if the marque can be allowed to progress beyond just the superficial fluted grille, special leather and matchwood inlay wood trim. Any Industrial Design student would easily show what is possible for Daimler.

    Having said this, rekindling the Daimler name as a more stand alone marque with its own design strategy, would still be a mammoth task. Then again, with the right opportunity and car… Jaguar Land Rover just need to be convinced.

  17. David: I think there’s a chasm between brand perception and product quality. I think Jaguar’s current products seem absolutely stellar.

    Bentley’s brand is tarnished horribly by the bling & bitches Gangsta-Rap image and countless footballer owners. When I drove my C6, one bit of pleasure I got – a childish one – was knowing that as three Bentley Continental GTs sailed by, those “exclusive” high-cost cars were outnumbering my comfortable, cream-leather lined barged by 10 to 1 AND cost 5x as much.

    Bear in mind the buyers of today are younger, and spending proportionately less of their income, than when 1970s executive man stepped up to hand over cash for a shoddily-made XJ6. These new buyers simply don’t care or know about XJ40s and rotten XJ-S HEs, they see E-types, XK120s, XJ200s (sorry, 220s *cough*) and of course, budget baby Aston Martins.

    You put the keys to a Bentley, XJ, S-Class, whatever the big BMW is in front of me and tell me to take my pick, and without hesitation I’d take the XJ. And that’s with a history of absolutely loving “real” Bentleys, wanting a proper ’90s Continental (ideally a sedanca), having had a 1930 4 1/2 litre in the family. As for Mercedes, I’ve owned several, and liked them a lot.

    Still want the XJ. I trust Jaguar to have sorted their build and warranty issues. The XF’s reputation seems to be holding up as the cars age.

  18. I had the opportunity to ask about the future of the Daimler brand last week in a feedback from the JaguarLandrover board but I didn’t think of it at the time!As far as I know:They haven’t used the Daimler brand in the US for years as it’s associated with Daimler-Benz trucks. Jaguar have the rights to use the Daimler badge for cars over Mercedes in all markets… Mercedes are Mercedes.I think that Maybach has been struggling as a stand-alone super brand and so Jaguar probably can’t yet justify the D&D costs for a super-limo above XJ to be branded as a Daimler even though I like the idea of it.Jaguar’s (& Land Rover’s) current drive seems to be for more efficient vehicles and their own range of engines, ending a reliance on Ford/Peugeot units.

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