AROnline blogs

Sam Skelton
Skelton’s Car of The Year 2009: the Jaguar XJ

Right, time to be serious for a moment. 2009 has drawn to a close and I think it’s an appropriate time to list the year’s good, bad and ugly from the world of motoring.

I’ll start with the things I’ve liked the look of and want to explore further. The biggest story here is the new Jaguar XJ. It’s incoherent from some angles in some colours, it’s big and the back end is a tad bland but, overall, it works in the right colour – it’s modern, chic and sure to be a hit. The interior is a departure for Jaguar, but it captures the moment, and will make the ownership of a Jaguar into something genuinely aspirational for the young professionals of today. I am going to go for a look at it as soon as my local Jaguar agent gets one in – I’ll be smitten at first glance, no doubt.

I don’t have a local Bentley agent, so I can’t do this with the new Mulsanne. I’ve always been a Bentley man and, whilst there are some questionable options on the new car, in the right colour and spec it is a thing of overwhelming beauty and, doubtless, has a crushingly smooth driving experience and wonderful ride. I looked in vain at this year’s MPH and Classic Car Motor Show for one but none were on display. Another on my wishlist.

A wishlist which also includes the little Royce: the Ghost. I’ve been looking on Pistonheads, and these cars are being advertised at a premium – almost at Phantom prices. It is more elegant than it’s big brother and, much as I love the Phantom for it’s interior, the Ghost is more my kind of car. It’s tricky deciding whether I prefer this to the Mulsanne, which is a compliment indeed to the Royce. I see a head to head article for some classic car magazine or another coming up in the very distant future…

…although what I’d pitch against Aston Martin’s Rapide is a hard question. You could argue Porsche Panamera, but the proportions aren’t as good and it’s just not the same. Lambo Reventon? Nah. Maserati Quattroporte? Looking dated. The Aston’s a superb car on the face of it and one I really want to see in the metal. What benchmarks are there to compare it against, really? It’s a car I think will be great, but how can we quantify the greatness of a trend-setter?

Aston’s other trend-setter, however, is a mess. The Cygnet is an ugly duckling that just is not necessary. Sure, I can see where they were coming from: a small prestige car is precisely the recipe that makes the work of Vanden Plas so attractive. A Toyota with Aston badges, though, just doesn’t work in the same way that, say, a Jaguar-badged Fiesta might have done. Aston’s brand ethos is nowhere to be found in the Cygnet and this makes it the year’s biggest disappointment.

The MG6, I have to say, has left me cold too. It just doesn’t seem to be as accomplished as it could have been - it looks bland and, at least for the moment. lacks a sufficiently wide range. It’s also too expensive and, in any case, the Roewe is the one I want. Yet despite this, I want it to do well. I desire nothing more than for my opinion to be wrong – although it’s Chinese-owned, MG represents the last vestiges of our motor industry and, for this reason, the MG6 deserves to succeed.

The tragedy of the year has to be GM’s announcement that Saab is going to be wound down. I’ve always rather liked what Saab have done, so to hear that GM have decided to sell bits off to China and pack the rest up is, frankly, heartbreaking. One hopes a gallant saviour can step in before it’s too late.

And the ugly? Well, that epithet can be applied to most cars in production today.

Guest blogs, Jaguar Land Rover

Keith Adams

It seems like a week for confessions – several of AROnline‘s readers joined me and came off the fence to admit their positive feelings towards the German cars they own. If you’re in the same boat, do speak out and, conversely, you think we’re off our tree, give it to us with both barrels.

Anyway, here’s another confession. I am underwhelmed by the new Jaguar XJ’s styling. Yes, it’s imposing, yes, it’s modern and, yes… it might tempt a few people out of their Audi A8s, BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Classes, but the lack of innovation is disappointing, especially after the gorgeous XF seemed to work so well.

We’re supposed to go ‘wow’ the first time we see a car of this importance. What did I really think? ‘Meh’…

Don’t get me wrong, it looks good, and there’s undoubtedly plenty of road presence thanks to its full depth plasti-chrome grille and C-XF headlamps, but, now the marque has been rebooted, why not try being a bit braver with the flagship XJ?

The glasshouse is pure Audi, the rear end is less than a happy homage to Bentley’s Continental and only the front end works well as a Jaguar. I’ll no doubt be something of a lone voice in criticising the XJ, but there you go: I am disappointed and I think Ian Callum and his team can do so much better…

This one’s going to run and run.

Jaguar Land Rover

Ian Nicholls

Jaguar XK is a prestige product - but should the government bailout its maker?

I suppose that this blog might make me unpopular but, with Tata/Jaguar/Land Rover asking for a handout from HM Government, perhaps now is time to question whether state aid for motor manufacturers is cost effective and, indeed, whether motor industry finances make any sense at all.

The amounts being talked about are enormous, considering the number of employees affected. If the object of state aid is to prevent unemployment, could it be used more creatively?

The cost of developing a new car seems to escalate every year and the factories producing them employ fewer and fewer people as time goes by.

By the time MG Rover collapsed in 2005 the Longbridge factory was employing 6000 workers, a far cry from the 21,000 who worked there in 1955. The amounts invested by BLMC (which creamed off the profits of Jaguar, Rover and Leyland Trucks to do so), the Government between 1975 and 1988 and BMW were mind blowing and yet, in hindsight, it might have been a more cost effective way of employing people by turning Longbridge into a shopping centre or a business park, which it now is. The old Morris Motors factory at Cowley became a business park in the 1990s. How many hospitals could have been built with the money that was pumped into Longbridge and Cowley?

The amounts invested by BLMC (which creamed off the profits of Jaguar, Rover and Leyland Trucks to do so), the Government between 1975 and 1988 and BMW were mind blowing and yet, in hindsight, it might have been a more cost effective way of employing people by turning Longbridge into a shopping centre or a business park

For a car to be successful it has to be profitable enough to recoup the capital invested in it and how many cars in this image conscious, ultra competitive world achieve this goal? How many car companies are propped up by numerous grants, subsidies and loans by states that fear de-industrialisation? Is there any real money to be made from motor manufacturing these days?

Back in 1968 critics made much of the fact that BMC had something like 26 different model platforms when Ford UK had only four. The amazing thing is that BMC were able to develop 26 different models, produce them and remain profitable. Nowadays it could not be done. Instead of 26 different models from one manufacturer, we now have even more choice from even more manufacturers, from Europe, Japan and South East Asia.

With the market so saturated and sales of individual models diffused, how can any one manufacturer generate the profit for a sustainable model programme?

As I see it, any Government handout to a motor manufacturer, even if it is described as a loan, has no hope of being repaid. The current talk is of billions of pounds being invested here and there. Here is some food for thought as we approach Christmas.

There have not been a million days since the birth of Christ.

Jaguar Land Rover, Scenarios Jaguar Land Rover

Keith Adams

Jaguar asking for dough from HMG?

So the word is out – Jaguar Land Rover is talking to the UK government about a potential bailout plan. With the recession deepening and sales dropping off (all apart from the XF, of course), company big-wigs have approached Whitehall cap in hand, asking for bridging finance to help them through these tough times.

I guess it was always going to happen – and, in the current climate, the government really has no option but to agree – helping secure thousands of jobs in Coventry, Birmingham and Halewood will be foremost on their minds.

The one thing that baffles me though, is where does Tata fit into all this? After all, we were assured that Ratan’s company was cash-rich and would be able to bankroll Jaguar Land Rover towards its bright new future… and here we are, a few months later, with a severe cashflow problem.

I hope that Jaguar Land Rover gets through the next couple of years unscathed – and that the government and its management do the right thing by keeping faith. Having said that, how many times and to how many institutions can the government continue to hand out billions here, billions there, before it’s all gone?

I still cannot help but wonder what MG Rover could have done with a couple of billion back in 2000. I think we all know the answer to that one…

[Source: BBC News]

Jaguar Land Rover