News : Jaguar named number one by JD Power

Jaguar leads JD Power in 2012

The 2012 UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study was based on the evaluations of nearly 18,000 owners after an average of two years ownership. Every aspect of vehicle ownership was rated from performance, design and comfort to quality, reliability, cost of ownership, economy and dealer service satisfaction.

Not only was Jaguar named Number 1 Car Manufacturer, the Jaguar XF’s performance, quality and style took it to the number 1 spot in the Executive Car category, with the XF finishing an impressive 2nd in the overall ranking of all makes and models. ‘This is a great accolade for everyone at Jaguar,’ said What Car? editor-in-chief Chas Hallett. ‘This study shows that customers are really satisfied with their Jaguars, a hugely important feat for any car maker.’

Jeremy Hicks, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover UK, commented: ‘To be awarded the Number 1 spot by JD Power is a huge honour – not only for the staff of the 90 Jaguar dealers in the UK but for the circa 2000 employees at the Castle Bromwich factory and the talented designers and engineers based in Warwickshire whose determination, attention to detail and commitment to quality have delivered this result.’

Jaguar continues to perform strongly in the UK with a 56 per cent rise in sales reported in April 2012.

Keith Adams

22 Comments

  1. BL couldnt make these brands work, nor could Ford, and in the case of Land Rover, nor could BMW either.
    So what is Tata doing different?

  2. @1

    I think they are investing in proper design and processes rather than rehashing an outdated image of Britishness which is all the other lot could muster for Jaguar.

    Regarding their sales figures, the above has happily coincided with a huge expansion of markets, ie, China, Russia etc.

    It’s all good !!!

  3. Investment in plant and quality (Ford and BMW) and product and engineers (BMW & Tata)…AND private ownership by an individual with a long term focus!
    All the best global engineering firms have some kind of family ownership (and when this is gone, the brand just becomes that, a commodity that is sold on).
    Jaguar topping JD Power … that is just fantastic. Someday soon it’ll top JD Power in the US too!

  4. @2, I agree with your comment about “proper design…outdated image of Britishness…” etc etc, which produces positive results.

    MG should take note of the Jaguar position and see how to make things work successfully. The current MG marketing disaster seems to consist mainly of targetting a few anoraks who are stuck in a time-warp.

    That is the attitude they should abandon, and instead focus on a modern, professional future, and stop referring to the past which is increasingly irrelevant to a large number of potential customers

  5. MG has nothing to do with this at all,while we can all be “monday morning quarterbacks”saying how this should be done and how that should be done at MG-hardly in the throes of full scale production-just wait and see.As for jaguar getting in this top posistion would have been a gag for frankie boyle as little as five years ago,TATA have a different ethos altogether,nurturing a company and melding it into a success-investment,new,young and modern designers and not the profit first cynisism of the likes of ford.The stewardship of this company under TATA leaves a lot to be said how “UK PLC” run thier affairs -bonus’s for doing a shit job,appeasing shareholders (Banks,hedge funds and not the man in the street.)I am glad an indian family firm own Jaguar as it has an assured future,as i am glad SAIC own MG.
    That jaguar has got the top spot in the JD power survey makes me immensely proud of our workers and the company and the honour is richly deserved.

  6. please TATA, take over MG and Rover as well… 🙂 and real money & intress is what Tata differs from trhe rest i think…

  7. “nor could Ford”

    Ford pretty much orchestrated what Jaguar and Volvo are today. Tata only took over Jaguar in 2008, and the XJ was launched in 2009 – the XF was already launched, the XK too.

    Ford HAD to sell the PAG assets to shore up the core business, as they were in an investment phase rather than a profitability phase (though Volvo’s engineering input is undoubtedly part of why Ford’s current range is so good). They didn’t fail. They improved, transformed and revitalised all four brands under the PAG group umbrella, and demonstrated that the management and skills within Ford were still extremely good.

    Compare and contrast with General Motors or DaimlerChrysler – where GM has lost several iconic global brands and Chrysler… well, they kinda speak for themselves.

  8. I like not this news.. bring me some other news…

    more importantly where is my dirt cheap XF in 4 years time going to be???

  9. @marcelfromholland

    Tata already own the name Rover, and it would be nice to see it on some desirable sub-Jaguar premium machinery.

    Great result for Jaguar.

    However, I remember Lexus used to get similar results, and it didn’t really help their sales greatly. Exec car buyers in the UK are still too blinkered and fascinated by shiny propellers and interlocked rings, like a toddler fascinated by keys, to really take notice of satisfaction suverys.

  10. We have to remember that these surveys, this in particular, represents about 1% of the car buying public. There were 18,000 respondents of around 1.8 Million cars sold per year. In that sense, whilst I am overjoyed for Jaguar I have to take the results with a pinch of salt because the type of car/buyer you are will dicate whether you are even aware of such polls in the first place.

    On the other topic of what TATA are doing that others before didn’t. I think it’s that Jaguar Land Rover are being given the freedom to do what they probably could have done all along without the management/budgetary controls that have always blighted them from the dark, cash-strapped BL/Rover days through to the maniacal-control-freak Ford days.

  11. @5 Jag have been up in the top 10 for the last 6 years, normally pipped to the top by Lexus and Subuaru. I have not seen this report, so do we know where Land Rover is? They normally don’t score that well and the Disco is normally near the bottom.

  12. Great news that I hope will encourage more British people looking to buy a premium luxury saloon to go out and buy a British made car such as a Jaguar, rather than something from Johnny Foreigner.

  13. I’m very pleased with this award- well done Jaguar!

    I think that Ford certainly deserve credit, along with Tata, and especially, the workforce itself- which has put behind it the reputation of the past.

    May they go from strength to strength.

  14. @7 Excellent point Richard Kilpatrick. Everyone seems to think JLRs renaissance began the day Ford gave the kets to Tata. But ALL JLRs recent launches, including the Evoque are products conceived, designed and dveloped during Fords stewardship of the company. JLR is still totally dependent on Ford technology. The Evoque uses Ford petrol and diesel engines and a modified Focus platform. Its even built in the former Ford Halewood plant. In fact its a Ford!

  15. @2 – I tried to argue that point with a regular poster on the Autocar web-site (his login is Los Angeles if you fancy locking horns) – I argued that the success of present-day Jaguars was down to the likes of the spectacular XF, and the abandonment of re-hashes of either the Mk2 or the XJ6/12. He was having none of it, and felt betrayed by Jaguar who, in his words were building bland, characterless cars. Maybe so, but they are selling by the bucket-load – so who is wrong?

  16. And the X and S type were runaway hits? a mondeo and a lincoln of course Ford has to be recognised for its contribution but lets not forget the Astons as well with ford switchgear based on the XJS,volvo was pretty much left alone,whatever ford invested they were “sunk” costs.Ford must be kicking themselves,they did not need to sell up did they?they did not do a chapter eleven like GM or merc split off from chrysler and do a runner,if they kept JLR they would be very much in the black in europe,like i said under the stewardship of TATA everything is looking rosy.I am under no illusion that everything come good just because of TATA,of course it didnt,i just think ford missed a trick selling JLR.

  17. I wouldn’t quite say that the current Jags are bland- certainly they don’t have the ‘retro appeal’ that the XJ300 had- but Jag could not rely on ‘old skool chic’ for ever- as evidenced by the relative failure of many of Ford’s Jag models- the brand needed a reboot.

    Well, I don’t think the current crop is quite as interesting looking, but if thats what they have to do to sell them…

  18. I bought one of the last X-type estates last December from a main dealer – they had one at an excellent price in the spec I wanted – and even though it is not the best Jag by a long way it is fast, economic and beautifully built (my brother in law who understands cars, vans, trucks and anything with wheels says build quality is night and day above the equivalent Merc C class.

    The biggest surprise is the dealers who are very good and attentive. I would expect this from a family owned business such as Barretts in Canterbury but when you also get it from main dealer groups such as HA Fox (part of Inchcape) you know things are good. They even let my 7 year old sit in an XJ and press every button – brave – but guess what his favourite car is!

    Then there is Jaguar themselves – phone calls to check web enquiries have been followed up, rapid responses to other queries.

    As you can tell I am very impessed so guess what I expect my next car to be – an XF estate.

    Well deserved Jaguar.

  19. @19, Andrew-P,

    Good to hear. A car could have the finest built quality known to man- with shutlines that you couldn’t pass a Rizla through, and with mechanicals and electrics of such quality that Toyota in their heyday couldn’t begin to dream of achieving…

    Means nothing without the backup of a good dealer.

    And its no bad thing that they let your kiddie climb all over an XJ- if they can instill the magic of Jaguar into him at that age, it will stay with him forever.

    What’s more, he hasn’t had to live through the long ‘dark ages’ of that marque. Not that that puts people off too much- I remember the 70’s well, and despite everything, I still want an XJ…

  20. @19 i think good ownership experience and brand loyalty is possibly down to good dealerships in the way they treat thier customers and im glad that you have recieved it,why is it dealers dont all do this?after all,we, the customer are thier bread and butter.

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