I would like Jaguar to succeed as a UK manufacturer and have been worried by recent news reports of poor sales figures and issues over a possible partner. The value of the brand rests in part on the loyal following of past Jaguar owners which they need to consider as they plan their future products.
The company needs to ask itself why it is selling so few Jaguars. Did it lose past customers by the way it treated them in its search for a new generation and style of customer?
When they dropped the S type and went to the XF they allowed the press to write that they were looking for a new younger breed of Jaguar buyer. To find these new buyers they changed from a car which was clearly part of the Jaguar design heritage in modern idiom, to a vehicle that did not have much Jaguar about it. The shape of the XF was similar to the Vauxhall Insignia which did that design well at cheaper prices. They then decided to make the legendary XJ into a stretched version of the smaller car. Maybe that did not work as they hoped.
Did they do some selling down? Were they seeking to get established owners to buy smaller and cheaper variants to boost the sales of newer products?
In recent years the Land Rover and Range Rover brands have powered far more sales than Jaguar. There the company has managed to preserve the essence of the old whilst creating cars that are clearly new. They have kept more past customers whilst attracting new ones.
I read that Jaguar have decided to delay the entry of their electric XJ Jaguar. I presume they have carried out sales research and decided there are too few potential buyers. They should do a bit more research into what people who have liked the brand in the past might buy, as that could still be a useful reservoir of potential custom.
What some like about the brand is its past ability to harness great British design and to produce the cars in a UK factory. Some are not looking for a clone of the great Jaguars of the past, but a modern embodiment of the design inspirations that made past vehicles iconic and distinctive in their day . The theme was Grace, Pace, Space. It is important that when they launch a new car it has some of the flair and brilliance of the E type or the Mark II Sports saloon. They were radical new cars on launch, but they kept alive the tradition of beautiful lines, good performance and a more affordable price than many luxury car competitors. The ageing XF and XJ do need replacement. Bring on a proper Jaguar. We need that to restore the sales. There is no fundamental reason why Jaguar should be so far behind BMW or Mercedes in selling cars.
August 25, 2020
I hope Jaguar can make cars with petrol engines indefinitely.
I like cars with petrol engines. Petrol can be bought anywhere and usually only take 5 minutes to fill and pay for the petrol.
Electric car will be very expensive to buy for most people and very inconvenient.
I associate petrol cars with freedom.
Why do so many people who want to force us into electric cars to “save the planet” fly around in private jets and helicopters?
August 25, 2020
I wonder, to what extent the fall in sales is down to people in the European Union no longer buying them?
And if they are not, then why might that be, do we think?
I mean, after all, Sterling has been hammered by the Leave decision, so it’s not about price, it would appear, wouldn’t it?
August 25, 2020
In Dec 2008, at which point the leftwing pro-EU federalism Labour govt was âsaving the worldâ sterling dropped to âŹ1.01. From âŹ1.50. Imagine what would have happened in the U.K. had the likes of you had their way and we had been in the euro. Have a look at data from Greece and Italy to get an idea.
August 25, 2020
Richard1
Sterling dropped because of the global credit crisis and banking turmoil. Bad economic forecast from the US pushed it on its way. Nothing to do with the EU.
The pound has plummeted in value against the euro since its inception and the euro has now replaced the pound as the world’s second most important currency after the dollar.
Why do you think that is?
August 25, 2020
What are you talking about?! There was a massive devaluation after the great Labour crash – caused by overleverage in the banking system and the leftwing Labour govt having gone into the crisis with a total deficit, Inc off balance sheet borrowing, of c 5% of GDP – at the peak of a boom.
The point is that had we been in the euro – as left-leaning euro federalists wanted us to be – there would have been no currency to devalue. It would have been perma-slump and austerity on steroids.
Of course there are more euro transactions than sterling, the eurozone economy is much larger.
August 25, 2020
… Why do you think that is? …
Because it’s rigged?
August 25, 2020
I hope you are invested up to the gills in âthe worlds second currencyâ.
August 25, 2020
Irrelevant,
They seem to still be buying Minis.
August 25, 2020
Sir Joe
Yes, because they are now owned by BMW and their design, reliability and performance vastly improved.
The same can’t be said about Jaguar after Tata bought them.
August 25, 2020
@SJS, No, they are buying BMW’s, the last “Mini” was built a good 20 years ago….
August 25, 2020
@Martin in Cardiff
On the continent Jaguars have been a rare sight for decades, mainly due to perceived reliability. Into the future, âMade in Englandâ may hamper any brand, for Brexit reasons (ânot one of us anymoreâ)
August 25, 2020
Same as made in the EU will have an effect on purchasing decisions in the UK.
August 25, 2020
+1
August 26, 2020
Buying a new German car is an unpatriotic act.
JF
August 25, 2020
Yep – but that was always the way, very few British cars on the Continent. Now we are about to see very few European cars in Britain – not just bigotry though, because we canât trust your mpg stats or emissions stats.
August 25, 2020
Lynn
So when your (Indian owned) Jag finally bites the dust you can always replace it with just about the only truly English car left – the Reliant Robin.
August 27, 2020
Err no Margaret.
The Reliant motor company no longer exists.
There are numerous motor car companies still making cars in the UK helping millions of people earn a living and contributing billions into our economy.
August 25, 2020
Yes that will be the reason you never see anything in the EU which was made eg in the US – like iphones – or anything from China etc.
August 25, 2020
@Richard1:
I suspect that there will be a slight difference with products made in US or China, because of the negative UK image due to Brexit.
But I don’t know for sure, if it doesn’t happen within the next 3 years I would have been mistaken.
August 25, 2020
No need to wait 3 years Peter
You are mistaken.
Individual customers in the EU will buy whatever products they like.
Just tell the unelected bureaucrats to keep out of the way.
August 25, 2020
@MiC; I doubt JLR has strong sales in the EU27, people wanting luxury and/or 4×4 capability will likely have been buying BMW, Mercedes or Volkswagen AG products well before Brexit. If I was in the market for a cross-over or full 4×4 luxury vehicle I would be looking at the BMW X-series long before anything from the current or recent JLR stable…
August 25, 2020
A friend of mine swore by BMW. He drove the large SUV. He has since started buying Range Rover and said they are like day and night. He would never return to BMW.
August 25, 2020
Well my lawyer in Javea has a large Jaguar saloon and expressed great delight in it,both in terms of economy and comfort.
August 25, 2020
MiC-
Noted the recent 10% difference in the ÂŁ$ rate from the post referendum rate of around 1.2 to 1.32.
August 25, 2020
Yes, Old Salt, the USD has done that against a Basket Of Currencies.
Any idea why?
August 25, 2020
Threat of BIDEN and Meghan Markel?
August 25, 2020
I don’t cry myself to sleep worrying about it.
August 25, 2020
They might make petrol cars indefinitely, theyâll just have nowhere to sell them – as new petrol cars are being banned everywhere soon.
The UK is banning them from 2035 – though I suspect Labour will bring that forward to 2030 if they win an election before then (despite the rigged electoral system).
And I guess most manufacturers will stop making petrol cars at least 3-5 years before the ban as the market for them will collapse.
I doubt youâll be able to buy many petrol cars by the end of this decade though even that is 5 years too late.
August 25, 2020
I look forward to a proper, convenient electric car, but governments should not rig markets in their favour.
That can only hamper progress and development.
August 25, 2020
What? The labour govt which you supported got a large majority even with only 35% of the vote. If our system has ever shown any bias itâs towards Labour as they have needed far fewer votes per MP.
August 25, 2020
Of course – and LABOUR governments re always imposed by the Celtic fringe.
England always accepts the result though.
August 25, 2020
Jaguar is foreign owned of course though manufactured in Britain.
Car buyers seek various things. Basic transport, performance, value, reliability and image are ranked differently by various customer groups.
Jaguar did have reliability issues. If they have solved them then I donât think that has filtered through to potential customers.
Most brands now offer smaller cars. The Mercedes badge is now on some fairly small vehicles as well as the big S class saloons. So smaller Jaguars are not unique
I am not sure of Jaguarâs image. Arthur Daley springs to mind. The German cars had a good image. Japanese cars are more reliable but, for the most part, motoring journalists plug German marques. If you think Jaguar is hard done by look what people like Jeremy Clarkson did to Vauxhall.
I would like to secure production in Britain – but I am not particularly worried about the Jaguar brand per se. French and Italian cars of dubious quality still maintain a market share in their home countries for whatever reason. It seems that Britain missed a trick or two regarding barriers to entry in the last half century.
August 25, 2020
Got a letter from my usual car dealer.
Great expectation that I would purchase their ( new I suppose) electric vehicle.
Started at around ÂŁ30,000.
Naturally I have ordered two!
August 25, 2020
đđone for each foot!
August 25, 2020
One towing the second so you can park the first somewhere – and continue your journey in the second?
August 25, 2020
Do you mean Prince Charles, Harry & Megan, Emma Thompson types – the do as I say not as I do people.
August 25, 2020
What you say may be true but you leave out the negative contribution by government on tax and the stupid worship of green. Your approach to green has been narrow, ill informed, and the total antithisis of what the Jaguar brand once stood for. Who is going to pay ÂŁ50,000 to ÂŁ100,000 for a vehicle with a range of 250 miles ,providing you don’t use it at night with the aircon on. This does not even take into account the less than green way of producing electricity. In your response to green you have all the ingredients for a second Poll Tax fiasco. My guess is that Mercedes and BMW do not suffer a government full of lawyers and others who think that achieving a goal is just a matter of creating a law.
Reply You are always so negative. I have written many timeâs against the high VED and the attitude of the government to electric vehicles!
August 25, 2020
The government particularly Hammond is instrumental in the demise of the motor industry.
Tax, tax, tax is their mantra then shock horror when they’ve destroyed an industry.
The last of the coal mines closed last week so we have to import more from Russia and the USA on the same day that Ratcliffe coal fired power station was recommissioned due to failure of wind capacity.
Too many ppe and too few engineers in government.
Making a right hash of things.
Never mind though you’re keeping the hotel industry going housing thousands of boat people. Good for votes I think not.
August 25, 2020
Indeed and Osborne and Hammond also attacking/killing the property rental industry with tax, tax, tax and endless red tape. 15% stamp duty, taxing profits that have not even been made, the absurd and expensive timewasting landlord liciencing agenda, restrictive bank lending and now encouraging tenants not to pay rent and preventing landlord legal actions. They clearly think landlords are some form of charity they can much at will.
Many landlords simply cannot afford to forgo rents they have mortgages to pay and/or the rent is their income from the job they do in managing the properties.
August 25, 2020
they can mug at will!
August 25, 2020
GDP lost in âpandemicâ…has to be recouped by shovelling in loads of newcomers!
Dinghy economics!
August 25, 2020
While reducing living standards and GDP per per cap. Plus putting extra pressure on housing, schools, policing, social services ……
August 25, 2020
Why on earth did Boris elevate Philip Hammond to the Lords? The many was a disaster as Chancellor, an economic illiterate (PPE so that is expected) and to my mind was guilty of blatant treachery!
August 25, 2020
Nah.
It was the Sun’s description of John Prescott as “two Jags” that did for them.
August 25, 2020
I’m very shocked.
As if the noble Labour Lord Prescott would traduce the brand value of a fine company like Jaguuar.
August 26, 2020
I am not a Tory who was previously thinking of buying one.
August 25, 2020
The truth will have out!
August 25, 2020
Mercedes and BMW aren’t so rosie.
We are due to replace two cars, we keep them a long time, this is stopping us making a decision.
My husband looked at Jaguar for the first time.
It is government and future energy punishment taxes that is stopping us.
August 25, 2020
Reply to reply
Rubbish John, the negativity is in government. I am well aware of what you have said in past posts on governments responsibility for the shrinking of the vehicle industry. Sentiments with which I wholly agree.
However while flaging the state of Jaguar which I judge as a bit negative can we have your thoughts on the way they should be going. What technology could they be employing to further sanitize the ICE. Where is the World on the production of cheap hydrogen which could be used in little modified ICE’s. What would you say to Jaguar if they designed and produced something like a Mazda RX5 at around ÂŁ30,000 max. That might introduce the younger market to the brand were they to ensure it out M’d the BMW M class in performance. The basic key chassiswise is at Caterham ex Lotus.
Your negativity remains with HS2 and I agree. However were HS2 MAGLEV, a la Japanese, I would be less negative. Just think, Birmingham to London in 30 minutes at 500kph, now you are talking. We are tying ourselves to the state of train design in Europe. It is like putting seats in a Lancaster bomber, which Avro did, when we could have Concorde. Call me negative if you wish, but the above is the way I tend to think and wish government was on side. Leaving the EU is an enormous opportunity, are government up for it and thinking outside the box.
August 25, 2020
agricola
“… when we could have Concorde”
But we DID have Concorde. And look what happened to that!
August 25, 2020
Concorde was a brilliant piece of innovation. You might not appreciate or even understand the principal of what I said. Its demise came about when a piece of engine cowling dropped off an American airliner since proved to have been repaired in an amateurish fashion. By the time all Concordes had been made runway rubbish proof we had the terrorist act on thse Twin Towers which killed many of its passenger base. Very sad because by that time it was in profit. We still await a successor. Your glorying in its end engenders real doubts as to the future of GB Ltd if there are many more of you.
August 25, 2020
and the French failed to do the required runway drive through prior to take-off. Then so embarrassed they effectively killed it off.
August 26, 2020
Concord may have been an engineering triumph but is was an economic disaster. The taxpayer subsidising rich people (like Joan Collins) to fly first class across the atlantic saving a couple of hours in the air, using far more fuel and largely a tax payers expense.
In todays money costing about ÂŁ10 billion for just 14 commercial aircraft (taking 92 to 128 passengers maximum). An economic basket case as one usually gets when government piss tax payers money down the drain rather like HS2. About 2.5 million passenger so each single passenger flight cost the tax payers about ÂŁ4,000 in subsidies (in todays money). Tony Benn much to blame for this waste of tax payers money. 113 of these died in the Paris Crash, about 1 death in 12,000.
Covid in the UK only slightly more dangerous than a single concord flight at about 1 death in 9,000!
August 29, 2020
Remind us how many equivalent jumbo jets have crashed so far and how much the economy has crashed? Landlords are in for a massive crash next as sure as night follows day.
No bailouts as that would not be laissez faire.
You live by the sword and die by the sword right? No bleating about the amount of tax you have paid to a system that lets you sponge to pay those taxes.
Privatising profits and socialising losses? The chutzpah from the likes of you is laughable.
August 25, 2020
Honestly..with the very best will in the world.
There is very little to feel remotely positive about.
Especially from behind a soggy mask.
When Cameron got in I knew something highly unpleasant was ramping up…but never in my wildest nightmares did I envisage anything as truly terrible as this.
Echoes of âTyburn Fairâ… and that strange stoicism, celebration almost, has been expected of us ever since. And we smile to make our oppressors feel better about what they are doing!đ
August 25, 2020
agricola-
Besides the fact that one needs to do at least 10k miles p.a.to keep the battery charged, on a typical hybrid anyway, so as to justify the high maintenance configuration and that is before it starts to degrade over the years and then how much is the car worth with the cost of a replacement battery in how many years down the line?
Not forgetting the need to massively increase the electricity grid for the pure battery types and thereby transferring the pollution from the car to the power production and transmission inefficiencies. Also battery material resources, production and recycling etc etc.
August 25, 2020
A once great British brand falling behind competitors from continental Europe … if Carlsberg did metaphors
August 25, 2020
I have yet to drink a beer on the continent and think âaaahh, thatâs niceâ. Whereas a nice pint of Doom, Tribute or Palmerâs Gold … I could go on and on and on.
August 25, 2020
Do like a bottle of Tiger but that is now brewed in the UK.
August 25, 2020
Cask ale doesn’t do so well, away from cool, even, marine climates, sadly.
August 25, 2020
Difference is the essence of existence. Cars were once beautifully designed and different from each other. Many now look as if ‘designers’ had to copy each other’s work instead of thinking outside.
Creativity is inspired in the quest for difference, and research prevents risk of flair for unwanted worthlessness. However, it is often the research which is misguided. The Edsel involved a great deal of research, yet bunglers compromised and created a camel in aiming to suit everyone’s horse power.
Target audience’s needs differ. Selling depends on satisfying those needs, but not with a suits-all ‘solution’.
August 25, 2020
I agree with Adam, I was looking for a smaller hybrid than my saloon but I just don’t like the models on offer and just don’t know what the government is intending on hybrids, a full electric isn’t practical we have enough problems with battery drainage because of alarms and gadgetry on my car.
August 25, 2020
Absolutely correct. If you give a computer the same data the answer is a common box wherever you house the computer.
August 25, 2020
@Adam; “Many now look as if âdesignersâ had to copy each otherâs work instead of thinking outside.”
But that is exactly what they are doing, or at least using the same computer modelled data for aerodynamics vs. MPG etc. if govts were less greedy with road fuel taxes and less welded to the AGW agenda….
August 25, 2020
The fuel restrictions and endless other regulations and red tape and the emissions taxes mean they all end up very similar often nearly identical but for the badge. Often with rather less head room than you need and an underpowered and over complex engine (frequently one that is less reliable and more expensive to maintain).
August 25, 2020
Jaguar’s are still perceived as niche, cliquey and twee while the German marques have always maintained a Volk persona. Therefore, the target market of Jaguar is tiny compared to the mass market of reliable, dependable and superbly constructed German vehicles.
Jaguar is a prisoner of Jaguar’s history not unlike your party who now appears to be embarking on a suicide mission while taking this nation along with you in your most pathetic, desperate embrace of cultural Marxism
Your party’s silence on the destruction of our freedoms, our history and our culture is noted.
An entire nation sacrificed on the altar of Tory party politics
I hope you take pleasure in the eventual ruination of this nation
August 25, 2020
I was concerned with Boris’s defence of Land of Hope and Glory “We must deal with the fundamentals not the symbols” (to that effect.)
Oh. That sounds like a surrender to me.
Clearly America has a problem. The sight of George Floyd’s death has disturbed me for life and the recent police shooting in Wisconsin is equally shocking. The BBC are pushing this one, as expected, and we could well see rioting in the UK again.
Where is the Tory politician who is going to defend our country thus:
– our policing methods are nothing like America’s
– our firearms training is much more stringent and regulated than the US’s
– our police operations have saved very many black lives and have been coordinated with the assistance of local black communities.
No. Instead, Boris goes down the route of surrender to Gramscian control and Marxist thought policing.
How long before we are all given psychometric tests for signs of racism in order to “..get to the roots of it” ?
August 25, 2020
+1 for the last bit since I know nowt about motor cars.
Anyway..the govt. will let the greenies take away our vehicles…absolutely no doubt.
Except for ministerial petrol/diesel guzzlers in the Zil lane!
August 25, 2020
Well John that should give you something to reply to. Pity it isn’t put that way in the HoC.
August 25, 2020
The German government helped the German Car Industry.
Germany now has great brands such as VW, Audi, BMW, Mercedes etc – that bring in huge revenues to the country (with spin-offs to related industries), great skills (in engineering and design), high exports, great sense of patriotism in creating high quality and stylish brands that sell well.
I think there’s a lesson to be learned here.
August 25, 2020
Illegal of course, but then so is doctoring the emissions and MPG stats.
August 25, 2020
@Lynn Atkinson; There was nothing illegal about what the German State(s), and the Marshal Plan, did from 1945 until the EU State Aid laws came in, and that is why the German car industry became so strong, quite possibly the strongest in the world, and why it now dominates the industry.
August 25, 2020
British people set up the Volkswagen factory after the War, did you not know that? Also their education system etc. In fact we gave them the Deutschmark too ….
Sadly in the U.K. Labour won the post war election and proceeded to waste our Marshall Aid and destroy our economy. They had to introduce rationing on bread for the first time! It was not rationed during the war to be pellucidly clear.
August 25, 2020
How is that in any way elated to the correct fact presented in Lynn’s post?
August 25, 2020
‘British people set up the Volkswagen factory after the War, did you not know that? ‘
– The British people of this era were heroes (really). No-one is disputing that.
But we’re in 2020 now. The Germans are producing and exporting great cars en masse – Audi / BMW / VW / Mercedes.
Are we going to hark back to history and make excuses or are we going to take the (good-natured) fight to the Germans and build better cars than them for the future.
If the latter, then let’s look at what they’re doing right and we’re doing wrong – for a starters, and take things form there.
August 25, 2020
Lynn Atkinson; “British people set up the Volkswagen factory after the War, did you not know that? “
Yes I did, what is more I suspect what you do not know is that the VW factory, most likely its design for the Beetle, machinery & tooling, was first offered to the Roots motor company as war reparations, they declined.
In the 1950s the UK car industry was probably, in foreign earnings, worth more than the US car industry. Our problems wasn’t the competition, it was our poor management, the only enlighten company was Austin, Leonard Lord (now chairman) refusing point blank to put pre-war engines back into production for example.
[Labour] had to introduce rationing on bread for the first time!”
Oh right so the Labour govt caused the summer weather to wreak havoc with the grain harvest and thus cause a wheat shortage, and then Clem caused the bad winter that followed, damaging the stored UK potato harvest, clue, both would have happened who ever had won the ’45 election.
August 25, 2020
Lynn
“British people set up the Volkswagen factory after the War, did you not know that?”
Oh really?
“After the war in Europe, in June 1945, Major Ivan Hirst[ of the British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) took control of the bomb-shattered factory, and restarted production, pending the expected disposal of the plant as war reparations. However, no British car manufacturer was interested; “the vehicle does not meet the fundamental technical requirement of a motor-car … it is quite unattractive to the average buyer … To build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise”
August 26, 2020
@Jerry,
There is no question about people here being able to create great cars and great at business.
But let’s combine these two now – and get on with making the British Audis of the future – designed and manufactured in the UK – and exported around the world, involving high skills, high levels of productivity, with important spin-offs in other areas of the economy.
We are the country of Newton, Cambridge and Oxford, Brunel. We made the Lancaster bomber, the spitfire, the mini – surely, it’s not beyond our means to become a major designer and manufacturer of high quality, mainstream, British-owned cars? Can’t we be like the Germans (even the French and the Italians)? Instead of building cars for them and others like the Japanese and the Koreans (or for whoever we manufacture cars for, I’m not sure).
August 26, 2020
‘(or for whoever we manufacture cars for, Iâm not sure).’
– I don’t care. It’s almost an embarrassment. I want the UK making our own Audis and VWs etc and exporting them abroad.
August 25, 2020
‘Illegal of course, but then so is doctoring the emissions and MPG stats.’
– Excuses …
At end of day, Germans just make great cars – and doing something really right where we are not – for all kinds of reasons political / cultural and so on.
We could make even better cars than the Germans but not until we admit what the Germans are doing right – and we are doing wrong.
August 25, 2020
Yes. The lesson is do not let foreigners predate on your industrial base. Tata makes vast profits from its steel industry in the highly protectionist Indian market. It has spent a fortune on Jaguar, a British brand which has never recovered its mojo since its ownership by Ford who always believed that the way to sell cars is to change their shapes so people feel obliged to replace the old shape with the new, never mind that that was the only thing that changed.
The modern Jaguar does not look like a Jaguar. People are recognised by their faces which is how cars are recognised as well. The face of the Jaguar goes back to the XK-120 with its distinctive radiator and can be traced through to the S-type but is now unrecognisable.
August 25, 2020
used to bring in huge revenues. Not now – plunging might be a more accurate description.
August 25, 2020
@Dominic; The Jaguar Motor Company started to loose its way in the late 1960s after it merged with that other privately owned British car company BMC (the parent company becoming BMH), and later with the Leyland Motor Corporation to form the still privately owned BLMC. By the time the “Marxists” created “BL” in 1975 the damage had already been done, that is why the govt had to step in and nationalised a very large privately owned conglomerate like corporation that was on the verge of ceasing to exist.
“[the Tory] partyâs silence on the destruction of our freedoms, our history and our culture is noted.”
Indeed, and thus we should return to the British culture of the 1950s though to the late 1970s, the post war settlement, the vast social freedoms to associate and organise, both socially and collectively within the work place, and to allow those with similar values to enter the UK from our Commonwealth nations from whom we ow so much to our greatness – oh you didn’t mean that British culture…
August 25, 2020
What was the Government at the time? You know, itâs almost impossible to be a capitalist in a Socialist society.
August 25, 2020
Lynn, the problem with BLMC was with management, not the companies ability to trade nationally and internationally, they just didn’t have many cars anyone wanted to buy.
For example when BLMC announced the replacement to the successful Austin-Morris 1100/1300 range such was the press slating of the Allegro that orders for the old models increased…
Another management, well accountancy fail, was the Maxi, putting aside the under developed new transmission that caused problems on press day, the car was to similar to the existing 1800/2200 range. What became the Maxi was originally conceived to be a 5 door sporty low roofed hatcback, this would have been the first such car of its type in Europe, but the accountants insisted that the production car use the existing 1800 doors -to save money, so the Maxi became competition for an existing product in the BLMC’s own stable instead, rather than cars in other manufactures stables. It would have been a lot cheaper to have added a hatch & tailgate option to the 1800 bodyshell!
August 25, 2020
Off topic
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8660301/Tory-MPs-call-human-rights-laws-abandoned-help-stop-flow-migrants.html
When are you going to do a piece on the migrant situation Sir John, we are supposed to be a island with a big moat around us yet these illegals still keep being let in, enough is enough they should be taken straight back to mainland Europe the minute they land on our shores or turn there boats back at sea, your party as a big majority so get a law passed to stop this invasion or suffer the consequences at the next general election
Reply I have often written about it and want illegal migration and people trafficking stopped.
August 25, 2020
Sir John has often written about this and wants it stopped. The problem is how. Looking at how our neighbours deal with this there must surely be some large enough uninhabited islands where we could build large camps to start the process of their refugee claims. Just dumping them back on France is both illegal and would encourage a quid pro quo.
August 25, 2020
Well clearly helping them cross the Channel and making it very clear that anyone who makes it will stay is an advert. One saying get yourself a rib and come, come, come and come some more bring as many as you can with you.
Why waste you time on a legal applications?
August 25, 2020
peter “Just dumping them back on France is both illegal and would encourage a quid pro quo.”
Hold on if we returned them isn’t that ‘quid pro quo’? France didn’t bother deporting failed asylum seekers instead it allowed people on their land to assist people to the UK! They were paid good money not to do this, we need a rebate for a start.
During the withdrawal agreement, there is nothing stopping us returning people to the EU, it is not illegal.
August 25, 2020
These people are your replacements, the New Britons, just as those flowing into EU countries are the New Europeans. The global elite have decided to remove the old electorate and replace them with one which is more pliable. Only Hungary and Poland are standing firm, and more formal methods will have to be found to convert them.
August 25, 2020
Remember the âhuman rightsâ the Tories want to scrap are your human rights too. You might assume you will never need them. But then you might assume wrong.
The people coming here on little boats to claim asylum are not doing anything illegal. Claiming asylum is not illegal. Travelling here by dinghy to claim asylum is not illegal. Sure, theyâd prefer to come by different means – safer means – but the Tory government has closed down all safe asylum routes.
A hard lesson is coming your way. You can not just return them to an EU country without the permission of that country. And those countries will say no. The EU has a mechanism for returning asylum seekers – and you left it.
And you canât return them to a dangerous country either because there are still enough decent people left in this country who will stop you. Having a big majority does not mean you can forgo common human decency – though I appreciate this mob will try.
August 25, 2020
The English Bill of Rights was signed into constitutional law in 1689. Bit before the EU was established. But you were happy to trash that important Bill which placed the People over the Monarch (Amongst other details).
August 25, 2020
‘Travelling here by dinghy to claim asylum is not illegal. ‘
Maybe- but it IS foolhardy, stupid, dangerous to being almost suicidal, and does not have a shred of responsibility for us.
How many are claiming asylum from the beastly French?
August 25, 2020
Illegal no, until our spineless politicians can be forced to change bad laws. Immoral certainly. Deliberately placing yourself in a hazardous situation in order to force people who owe you nothing to ‘rescue’ you and give you free stuff is contemptible. Not only are you putting the lives of the rescuers at risk but you are denying people who might GENUINELY need help the resources you are tieing up. As Abdel Al-Sisi the Egyptian president correctly said, why can’t these people work to build their own countries up instead of leeching off of other peoples and cultures?
August 25, 2020
Iâm sure ,Sir John, you have written and spoken about it along with some of your colleagues. How about DOING something about it.
August 25, 2020
They’re in France illegally and they’re being escorted to our shores illegally. Until we treat these people as the criminals they are and not victims, they’ll keep coming and we’ll be expected to keep paying.
The HRA (another Blair blunder) was identified as a huge contributing factor to unlawful migration years ago, so why with an 80+ majority are our lawmakers not doing something to correct it?
August 25, 2020
Maybe because MPs don’t want to lose their Human Rights either?
August 25, 2020
I bought my first Jaguar – a jaw-droppingly pretty XE – just under two years ago. A friend swore by his company-car XF and might buy another. My neighbour has just bought a new XF. We’re all doing our bit to support this iconic British brand – unlike the government and the eco-loons on the back-benches. Perhaps you should organise a trip to Jaguar’s HQ for some interested MPs?
August 25, 2020
The eco-loons are everywhere – only a handful of MPs voted against the climate change act and they are even in the Boris tent it seems.
August 25, 2020
The less they know about physics, engineering and energy the more eco-loon they tend to be.
August 25, 2020
Too true!
August 25, 2020
I bet they donât give a toss about ecology/green rot etc.
All about ÂŁÂŁÂŁÂŁÂŁs.
Just another heist in the long history of the wicked elite exploiting this country.
August 25, 2020
I wonder how many French governmental and State bought cars are anything other than French? Same for Germany and Italy?
August 25, 2020
Oh the Italians have always driven Fiats instead of cars.
August 25, 2020
Some of their police cars are Ferarris.
August 25, 2020
@SW; “Weâre all doing our bit to support this iconic British brand”
Might as well buy a BMW Mini then, as a Tata Motors “Jaguar” then…
August 25, 2020
You raise a good point but the British content of a Jag is still high. Prior to buying my previous car, I test-drove the BMW Series 3, Jaguar X-Type and the new Mini. It was the Mini that won my heart. There’s no denying that BMW did a superb job of re-engineering and re-styling that car.
August 25, 2020
@SW; “Thereâs no denying that BMW did a superb job of re-engineering and re-styling [the ‘replacement Mini’] car.”
The car was 99% a product of Longbridge R&D design and indeed BMW first intended to keep the Longbridge factory for its production, only later switching assembly to Oxford.
One of the main reasons why BMW bought Rover Group in 1994, apart from wanting to own the ‘replacement Mini’, due to the then BMW CEO’s family ties to Sir Alec Issigonis, they also wanted to buy the Longbridge/BL R&D knowledge and experience of Front Wheel Drive and 4×4 technoligy as used in personal motor cars -something BMW was in dire need of at the time.
August 25, 2020
“Perhaps you should organise a trip to Jaguarâs HQ for some interested MPs?”
I’m sure they’d love an all-expenses paid trip to Mumbai.
August 25, 2020
Good morning
A very welcome change in topic đ
Jaguar are in what may be considered the toughest of the car market. They need to sell on quality, but cannot attract RR and Bentley customers, and they need to sell on price, but cannot compete for Ford or Nissan prices. They really are in a squeeze as to a lesser degree the upper is beyond them and lower segment push up.
I recently mulled over the Jaguar E-Pace, but decided not to as it is not built in the UK. Same too with the lovely Defender from Land Rover. If I am forced to buy foreign I might as well buy Japanese or Korean – Better build and more value. Not too keen on German, and I will not buy anything French ! Italian is nice but I want to drive it not have to keep taking it back to the dealer to be repaired.
Once we had a good car and motorcycle industry. But then, the governments of the day decided to nationalise and combine them into one. The market did not do this, politicians did. And they put people in charge who did not know a thing about industry let alone cars ! Sounds familiar ? đ
Jaguar, like all private business, will do its homework. If it is to survive and prosper then it needs to innovate and invest. Look into make efficiencies where it can and cut out any waste and duplication. It may even have to relocate some production elsewhere and develop partnerships. All to survive. Something the State Sector feels no need to do when it knows it has the endless reserves of the taxpayer to fund it đ
August 25, 2020
Much truth in what you say.
Tata might well be better off selling Jaguar (if they can find a buyer prepared to pay anything much) and invest in areas than cars. As you say caught in the middle just like some supermarkets and shops. Not cheap enough at one end and not prestige enough at the other.
August 25, 2020
A friend’s got dinged in the car park. Being an aluminium door it needed total replacement at a cost of thousands – hence very high insurance.
For a car that looks like a Vauxhall and you can’t press for performance because of traffic jams and cycle lanes.
August 25, 2020
My friend (foolishly) bought an ÂŁ80K Teslas and a smallish impact which parked in London meant it was written off fully in the first month. It was resplaced doubless using masses more c02 and fossil fuels to manufacture.
August 25, 2020
other than cars.
But then what do I know – I still cannot work out why on earth Tesla’s market cap overtook that of Toyota’s recently. Cull all the taxpayer subsidies for green crap please.
August 25, 2020
Mark concur with everything you say, the Jaguar iPace was mulled over by my husband but…..government decisions and dithering is pausing personal decision making we’re not in a rush.
August 25, 2020
“Italian is nice but I want to drive it not have to keep taking it back to the dealer to be repaired.”
Drove my first Alfa when I worked in Milan, a 2 litre Alfetta – all our service and sales engineers drove Alfa Suds, all doing tens of thousands of miles a year – no problems. The service manager at Minnettis (main Alfa dealer in Milan) told me that they were very reliable cars provided they were serviced to schedule.
I’ve driven Alfas here in UK for the past 17 years – one for twelve years and my current one for five (still have it). No major problems but they are serviced regularly and the oil & filters changed annually (whatever the dealer says). We drove to Milan over the Alps in 2010 and back via Annecy. Never had any major problems with either car since purchased from new.
I drove a BMW Series 7 for a brief while – technically competent but completely soul less. Didn’t bother me at all when it went back, we were never friends, whereas I still miss Bella (my 3 litre Alfa 166). Jaguars owners used to be like Alfistis – their car wasn’t just any car – it was a Jaguar.
There are people who want us all to live in little boxes (most likely made out of Tikky Tacky) that all look the same and drive around in little electric boxes that also look all the same. They want us to all think the same little boxy thoughts and like the same little boxy things.
August 25, 2020
Very true, the only non UK car I bought in the last 20years was an Alpha. Beautiful car but delivered with a broken seat frame and intermittent fault with the wipers. Driving Hondas now but they’re off limits when they shut Swindon.
August 25, 2020
should have waited and bought the Beta.
August 25, 2020
Not easy for Tata to revive Jaguar and make them desirable again. I think people will prefer buying old classic ones to any new ones they come up with in the current market.
I see that (late switch to remain) William Hague has it wrong again. What is wrong with 98% of PPE graduates? In the Telegraph today he says:-
Itâs in the UKâs national interest that Joe Biden wins the presidential race
Under Trump, the US has stopped leading on global issues and shown disdain for democratic values
No William Trump is far from perfect but far preferable to Biden. Above all (unlike Biden & Hague) he is right on energy policies, climate alarmism and rather better on the economy. The last think the States or the UK needs is left wing, identity politics pushing lawyers running it.
August 25, 2020
Not sure. Trump has done a good job not starting any useless wars, heâs had a great success with the Israel-UAE deal, which is strangely unmentioned in the U.K. and elsewhere, and had a good economic recovery going pre-plague. Heâs also doing the right thing calling out Chinese espionage, trade cheating, Wuhan virus lying, Iranian terrorism etc.
But some of his utterances are beyond belief. Reportedly Telling Xi that the Uighur Concentration camps are the right thing to do for example.
Biden would also join the TTP along with the U.K., somewhat obviating the need for a U.K.-US FTA, which is difficult with all the silly nonsense about chlorinated chicken etc.
August 25, 2020
It would however be very funny to witness the leftist outrage if he did win again. One of the main motivations for US voters to vote Trump must be the opportunity to put two fingers up to woke leftism.
August 25, 2020
He has a point about corrupt postal voting too but the BBC report it today thus:
“Trump *seeks* to cast doubts on postal voting.”
August 25, 2020
They go further “he seeks to cast doubts on postal voting corruption for which there is no supporting evidence” I heard.
August 25, 2020
I had to look up those “utterances” Richard because I hadn’t heard this accusation before, these were hearsay accounts from a man (not present in the meeting between the Presidents) who was supposed to be in a secure role – was he listening to interpreters, or did he read the interpretations and were the interpretations corrected by Trump before going on record? Or did Trump authorise the minutes? Then do private minutes between Presidents automatically become for public record?
What is the UN and the EU doing about these camps? What sanctions have they applied?
“The Chinese Communist Party has long been criticized for its construction of large concentration camps in Xinjiang, where millions of ethnic minority Uighur Muslims are believed to be detained under the guise of a counterterrorism campaign.” Business Insider
“LONG BEEN” – what has been done by other Countries and Human Rights Organisations, who has faced up to China about this problem?
I’m not defending Trump here just trying to get a full picture about what he is accused of doing.
August 25, 2020
“Biden’s emphasis, they said, would be on mending fences with Berlin and Paris, not celebrating a âspecial relationshipâ with London” New York Times.
“7 Aug 2020 – BREXIT trade deals with the US could be on the line if Joe Biden wins the Presidential election, as he is more likely to favour Ireland… Mr Biden has been vocal in his opposition to Brexit in the past so his potential election is reportedly leaving Westminster âunsettledâ.”Express
So Biden is allowed to brief against the UK but Hague thinks its in the UKs national interest that he wins.
Back of the queue, Democrats are globalists doing the masters bidding, everyone said Trump would lead them into war it is not Trump that is unnecessarily hawkish.
Biden has declared he will overturn all of Trumps immigration changes and more. He
August 25, 2020
A car with even less âJaguar about itâ than the XF was the X-Type, which was essentially a restyled Ford Mondeo, the product of Fordâs ownership of Jaguar between 1999 and 2008. The value of a brand does rest in part on its loyal followers, but there are only so many 1950s pipe smoking country solicitors out there. The whole concept of premium car brands like BMW or Mercedes has been undermined in recent years by the ubiquity of PCP finance deals, which puts many people behind the wheel of cars they would not otherwise be able to afford. That loss of exclusivity runs the risk of trashing the brandâs USP in the longer term for the sake of increased sales in the short term. (But as Jaguar sells so few cars, that is at least one problem it wonât have).
August 25, 2020
Anyone who thinks the NHS is the âEnvy of the Worldâ should listen to the whistle blower nurse on the Telegraph Podcast – Planet Normal. Clearly some excellent people work there but in general it is one of the worse systems around for a developed nation. It is killing thousands and making millions more wait & suffer. But no one dares to attempt to reform this dire & giant state monopoly. First step should be tax relief for anyone going privately or taking medical insurance and cull the IPT tax on medical insurance.
August 25, 2020
Yawn.
August 25, 2020
You may well yawn. If you dislocate your jaw you will find out just how great the NHS is. My wife has just had another of her regular treatment appointments cancelled and is in severe pain 24/7. No explanation. Just a letter (well 2 identical letters received the same day) saying âyour appointment has been cancelledâ.
Sorry, but the NHS is pretty good in an emergency. Other than that it is far from perfect.
August 25, 2020
NHS perfect……an excellent oxymoron.
August 25, 2020
Friends of friends have just made lottery sized amounts selling consumables to the NHS in the past six months.
A ÂŁ4m house bought with cash.
Poor old Sir Capt Tom.
August 25, 2020
Listen to it and then see if you are still yawning!
August 25, 2020
Only 4 out of 22 posts in the first tranche.
Most of the old favourites are covered though, including climate change and PPE graduates.
August 25, 2020
No chance. I think the Conservative Party might change itâs name as ânewâ labour did to the NHS Conservatives.
August 25, 2020
France often tops the league when health systems are assessed and the WHO estimates spending per capita (2015 USD ) as 4026. The less successful UK system was 4356 and the USA 9536. Top of the world ma !
The US has consistently ranked below most developed nations but itâs worse than that. While the US spends a vast 8.8% of GDP on private health care picking up the slack it also spends 8.5% of its GDP on health out of public funds, roughly equivalent to the average developed country .(2016)
So the USA is on the face of it a terrible system
Expensive or both tax payers and Premium payers
Inefficient
Patchy allowing brutal and unfair suffering
Stressful â are you insured for that or not?
It could not be worse and it is beaten into the ground by monopoly public sector providers.Whinge about the NHS by all means but not if your recommendation is that we follow the US model which is a tragedy
August 25, 2020
Whenever people criticise the NHS model the instant response is oh so you want the USA system.
No.
There are good systems like Germany France Spain Australia Canada and many others that give good health services for similar or lower costs than the NHS costs.
Copy the best in the world.
August 25, 2020
Yes, well said Ed.
So why not copy the most successful countries’ approaches to covid19 too?
And to railways?
And to occupational pension provision?
August 25, 2020
Yes why not.
Sadly Labour have no policies like these.
August 25, 2020
The USA is the âmost successful countryâ. We should be more like it in a number of important ways.
August 26, 2020
Lynn, with a homicide rate five or six times the pro-rata average of the European Union and UK?
No thanks.
August 25, 2020
The time taken to train doctors in the States stands in stark contrast to our own, relative, efficiency. Amazingly, many of them do a Bachelor’s degree in a non-medical subject before going to Medical school.
August 25, 2020
And any foreign qualified Doctor has to pass the US med exams before being allowed to practise.
August 25, 2020
Except a good proportion of ours bugger off to the Anzacs or go part time/job share.
August 25, 2020
The US isnât the only alternative. Most European counties have mixed systems which deliver better service for the only that ours
August 25, 2020
Australia & New Zealand healthcare systems are far better than the UK too.
August 25, 2020
I like those ideas in your last sentence. Healthcare in this country would benefit from a thriving private sector.
August 25, 2020
Lifelogic, you are correct but nobody in the political class is prepared to say the emperor has no clothes.
August 25, 2020
I see Morrissey’s mum has died, and he has gone to press with how rubbish the thinks the NHS is. Good for him. The more people who speak the truth about the national religion the NHS the better.
August 25, 2020
Actually, many moons ago , Jaguar was the Suburu of its day, flash fast and cheap…how times have changed. and I see why they felt they had to change their old man image . Sadly its a bit like Cliff Richard trying to break into Hip Hop. Embarrassing.
People buy cars because of what it says about them and Jaguar says I have prostate cancer and a dynamic waist support.
As ever John Redwood wishes us to return to a past that never existed.
August 25, 2020
The E Type most definitely did exist. As a boy they were still in production and much coveted by young lads.
In this post Covid, electric Green era boring is very much the way to go – in fact there is a duty to go that way.
Not even Andy’s beloved Tesla should have the luxury of metallic paint or anything other than minimalist utilitarianism about it. If Vauxhalls have the optimal aerodynamic shape then that’s the shape all cars should be, by law.
Mercedes and BMW should model their cars on Vauxhalls too if that is the case.
And no singing at the Proms.
No jokes at the Edinburgh festival.
But really. Cars as fashion accessories ? Is that acceptable now ???
August 25, 2020
đđ jaguar cheap! And that is the most accurate statement in this little contribution. Every Jag has exuded class, English understated style and sheer engineering joy.
You are well named! Manic, a Volkswagen driver I suppose, whose software engineers set the mpg stats. Oh sorry! Thatâs IMPERIAL measurement, you no doubt deal in Napoleons measures but we, the English DONâT because we were not defeated by the nasty little man!
August 25, 2020
Your constant negativity is a daily drain to read.
Toyota created Lexus to attempt to move upmarket.
British made executive cars would find a willing market if government got out of the way. Mini should never have been sold off once its market was re-energised.
August 25, 2020
Newmania
“Actually, many moons ago , Jaguar was the Suburu of its day, flash fast and cheapâŠhow times have changed. and I see why they felt they had to change their old man image . Sadly its a bit like Cliff Richard trying to break into Hip Hop. Embarrassing.”
And don’t forget Arthur Daly – he came to epitomise the typical Jaguar owner.
August 25, 2020
Jaguars perform well in reliability surveys while Audi come out near the bottom, yet we see far more Audis on the road despite poor reliability and the company’s reprehensible behaviour over emissions cheating. Is something lacking in Jaguar’s marketing?
The government doesn’t help either. I recall various ambassadors asking for Jaguars to fly the flag and being told in the Cameron era they had to drive Priuses, supposedly ‘green’ though in reality anything but. Then of course we have the crazy forthcoming ban on diesels and petrol in favour of electric cars with their environmentally damaging mining demands which requires capital investment harder for a smallish company like Jaguar than for the giants.
August 25, 2020
Good point about vehicles for Ambassadors
August 25, 2020
You sum up the problems as is your solution, relying on some sort of nostalgia for the 50s/60s, the E type was iconic and they never seemed to be able to move on. Questionable quality, reliant on âolderâ engines etc whilst Mercs, Beemers and Audi soared away to include the AMG and M variants to add extreme sportiness to their company car and luxury ranges.
I have always had the impression they were cash constrained so under investing and we see the result.
Through their build quality etc supported by clever advertising and generally a supportive motoring press, not something that could be said for Jaguar, their brand value grew and grew as Jag declined and it is too late to get it back without a bucket full of money.
In marketing terms, over reliant on cash cows letting them turn into dogs with seemingly no policy/ability to change that and now it is too late.
What is a proper Jaguar and where in an already over supplied mature market would it compete? From where I am sitting there doesnât appear to be a gap. Range Rover understood the market at the time and where they were positioned. Went in early (First?) into a niche at the right price and quality developing and enhancing their brand and then maintaining that lead/market position. A good case study. Jag is also but for the wrong reasons.
August 25, 2020
Didn’t the CEO of Jaguar say that he would build the UK’s first electric cars if he was supported by new infrastructure at the Jaguar plant to assist in manufacture / distribution ? Perhaps I mis-remembered ? But what happened to this idea ?
August 25, 2020
Overlay Jaguar onto the Boston Box. A good lesson in understanding how markets work.
August 25, 2020
Fundamentally and with todays namby-pamby who cares UK Government, it is the Government that killed Jaguar. The vanity tax they introduced is just that a vanity tax.
It served no purpose other than ruin values in the onward sales secondhand market. That in turn destroyed first owner sales.
August 25, 2020
“There is no fundamental reason why Jaguar should be so far behind BMW or Mercedes in selling cars. “
Indeed, other than Jaguar not having that ‘German touch’, along with the more modern British industrial illness, not actually being run (ultimately) by a British boardroom, just look at the products of the parent company and you will see why both wings of JLR have gone bad – its BL(MC) all over again, not understanding ones customer base…
August 25, 2020
jerry – Perhaps the car industry in the UK should do a Klopp, offer the right package to a German specialist and the people around them should feed off that va va voom.
August 25, 2020
Nicole? Papa!
August 25, 2020
Nothing original to add, so I’ll just repeat the standard stuff:
JLR got hit by a weakening parent, China problems and the diesel debacle forcing them to rationalise world production and reschedule development to sort cash flow – the came CV19 political responses making it worse.
Nonetheless the directions are obvious, it is whether the incoming CEO can pull them off when they are obvious to the competitors. With a little tidying the Land Rover and Range Rover brands can stop their partial cannabilising and be successful, most models are profitable. These brands are not at the level of Merc, BMW and Audi, but they do still have wide appeal from the early morning young blacked out window drivers to the upper middle class school runners.
The Jaguar brand can not do the same as the *Rover brands, its only option is to position as luxury electric only as Tesla started. It needs to look at the costs of batteries and software development, but Musk has talked about licensing (but then he talks about many things), so this requires a decisive decision and follow on.
August 25, 2020
Jaguar went the wrong way under Ford, and has not really recovered.
The XE floorpan was the same as the Mondao, the XF looked like many other cars on the outside, and on the inside they tried the modern look dashboard, again like so many others, at the same time they tried sportier handling with stiffer suspension and bigger wheels, but at the expense of comfort.
Ride quality now not a patch on a Citroen C6 or a Range Rover with their air suspensions.
Take the badge off of the Jaguar and most people now would not have a clue of its make.
Interesting to note that Audi and Volvo are now starting to offer air suspension as an option, indeed it is standard on the latest Q7.
The poor quality of our roads now shows up the failings of cars with stiffer suspension, and big wheels with low profile tyres.
Enough has already been said about Government policy on fuel choice/imposition.
August 25, 2020
People are buying SUVs not saloon cars. Iâm not sure both Jaguar and Land Rover need to produce SUVs.
Jaguars are not reliable enough. Their in-car tech systems lag the opposition. They just donât make enough vehicles or profit to invest enough in new products. The customers are dying out.
U.K. roads are full of potholes so not much chance of a smooth ride in any vehicle.
There could be a renaissance as an electric brand but that would need vehicle assembly to take place next to a battery plant and there arenât any in this country are there? They are mostly in China and thatâs where all vehicle production is headed. They worked things out well ahead of the Germans so we are nowhere. We lost while you were preoccupied blaming the EU for our failings.
August 25, 2020
While the Governments tax system is currently central to destroying innovation and asperation in the UK. The Indian company Tata had originally done a good job at maintaining the brand. But while having a Foreign owner may at first instance seam a blessing, it is also the cause of destruction. Foreign ownership quite naturally protects and defends their home markets, its good business sense. Then when things get tough at home it is the peripheral operations that get diminished first. Jaguar falls into that category a peripheral project for its owners.
As business grow evolve etc a change of ownership may need to come about, as in owners retirement. What is needed is a system of continuity, there has to be a more efficient way that just selling a brand to a foreign owner, someone without a full term wish to contribute to the UK economy. Logic says there must be a may practical way for the partners(workers) left behind to leverage a buyout.
Not Government involvement, they are to daft to understand, but maybe if there was such a thing as a UK Sovereign Fund that invested for all our futures on a commercial basis it would stop the UK falling into traps.
August 25, 2020
Sir John, you mention BMW and Mercedes as being successful – basically still family owned. There’s a thought.
August 25, 2020
28/08/2020 BMW @ âŹ58.35 & DAI @ âŹ42.41 on the LSE.
August 25, 2020
There is quite a bit of nostalgia and patriotism in the blog. It has its place in society. Over here some of my Dutch friends keep driving old Saabs and even Mark Rutte, when he doesnât use his bicycle or is driven around, is still in love with his second hand Saab.
Why not go one step further and only sell Jaguars to Englishmen. Apart from saving on foreign marketing it will give the uplifting feeling of âOne of us!â when you see other Jaguars and their drivers.
August 25, 2020
Presumably you would also back German cars only for German citizens and so on.
What are Dutch people going to buy?
August 25, 2020
Don’t remember those DAFs driven by a rubber band… đ
August 25, 2020
@Edward2: For me a car has never been more than a vehicle to get me from A to B. No emotional attachment.
Apart from one, all my cars have been Japanese or S.E. Asian, because of their reliability scores.
August 25, 2020
Yes but..if you reduce cars sales to national boundaries as you suggest, some EU nations won’t have any cars.
August 27, 2020
But not a Trabant or a 2CV.
August 25, 2020
they prefer bikes – might even fit a small battery.
August 25, 2020
The uplifting feeling of âOne of us!â is an excellent notion Peter van LEEUWEN and one that chimes with my own thought that the UK Government could give a big boost to both Jaguar sales and social integration by giving a new car to each immigrant refugee upon newly landing from France.
August 25, 2020
@formula57:
Never come across such an utterly welcoming English gentleman! đ
August 25, 2020
âWhen heâs not on his bicycleâđđ and we are accused of nostalgia! Pieter a while ago horse-power replaced man-power. I expect the Dutch will catch up when peddling down the hill….đđ
August 25, 2020
@Lynn Atkinson: You may laugh at it, but apparently cycling to work is a bit of a status symbol in the larger cities, proving that you can afford to live close to your work.
In Mark Rutteâs case he also uses the bike for his weekly visit to our king.
August 25, 2020
Oh not a status symbol in the U.K. we can walk to work or get the chauffeur to drop us off.
August 25, 2020
@Lynn Atkinson: using a chauffeur when it’s not required smacks of feodalism.
It’s not our prime-minister’s style
August 25, 2020
Boris was able to cycle regularly before he needed security….and boy does he need security!
August 25, 2020
Be more like France and Germany you mean, there are many car plants in the UK Peter, all sorts of foreign owners to support British car manufacturing jobs should one choose do that – you don’t have to be able to pay Jag prices.
August 25, 2020
Peter, you have a remarkable insight into the British character. I drive a couple of off-beat vehicles and sometimes I get a wave or a nod from someone going in the opposite direction who is driving a similar vehicle. It must be the Brexit effect!
August 25, 2020
A strange post. In 2018 Jaguar sold more cars than any year since at least 1990. Sales in 2019 were down slightly due to various changes in market conditions and currency impact in export markets. 2020 cannot be compared with any other year. The F type is a great car as is the i pace according to owners I know. Perhaps look at issues of interest to your constituents rather than this niche – I am sure Jaguar management know their business better than you.
August 25, 2020
I worry about the reliability history and the lack of R and D in comparison with BMW
August 25, 2020
Maybe they donât sell very well because they are massively overpriced for what they are.
The point about a âluxuryâ car is that it needs to be desirable.
And an overpriced old-fashioned gas-guzzler is not desirable to my generation.
Tesla is now the en-vogue âluxuryâ brand for my generation – 30s and 40s.
Plus, in any case, there is a strong likelihood that Jaguarâs UK operations wonât survive Brexit.
August 25, 2020
Hate to break it to you… you’re now 40s to 50s and very soon you will realise that you’ve hit the Tuesday of the second week of your summer holiday in terms of life.
You are going to be 60 in what will feel like 5 years
You are going to be 70 in what will feel like 10.
It zooooms on by.
August 25, 2020
Are you 16?
August 25, 2020
As a UK taxpayer like most of us here we contributed funds to the EU which they in turn spent in undermining the UK.
Jaguar/Land Rover have updated the Defender and opened new production facilities to produce it. The UK as a member of the EU was not permitted to support its production here in the UK. However the UK taxpayer got to subsidies the new factory in Slovakia. The UK taxpayer had to support the UK redundancies and finance new facilities abroad. Lost jobs, lost revenue, lost contribution to the health wealth and infrastructure of the UK. Oh and it is the wealth created by the UK taxpayer that will buy the product, but all contributions to perpetuating that wealth will leave the country never to return, so diminishing our own ability to fund our future.
That includes a neighbor of mine, nice new Defender parked next to his Ferrari
This is where international trade gets weaponized our own wealth is used to undermine our own wellbeing.
August 25, 2020
The UK government has pursued an unrelently anti car and anti personal mobility agenda for decades. The latest ludicrous “green” fantasy to replace fossil fuels with electric cars is pure fantasy. Boris and chums have now caused the largest depression in history in varying degrees through stupidity, personal gain and ideology. That car manufacturers and particularly expensive, niche car manufacturers are experiencing low sales is not exactly a shock is it? Looking at the current trends of socialist policies, moral cowardice, media lies, attacks on food and other essential production and the almost complete lack of critical thinking everywhere I’ll be surprised if we don’t suffer massively worse than the loss of some car makers. Sadly much of the world is in the grip of the same delusions and stupidity and I can’t even find a safe haven to run to, if I could, I would.
August 26, 2020
From first sentence to last, youâve covered so much that exasperates me.
The BBC is an inbuilt constant as a subversive irritant to conservatives and also to the country and culture in general. It gets worse as each month passes. Such an institution must be challenged at its very fundamentals.
Iâm enjoying my first Jaguar, and itâs a diesel XE AWD. Iâd decided against a Merc, BMW, Audi, and VW (having owned three Mercs, and I do love touring in Germany, France, Italy, etc.), but the decider was my starry-eyed wife (starry-eyed for the Jag, not myself). Iâd have preferred a Giulia, the Jaguar seems to be as connected to the road surface as a sprung mattress and less sporty than Iâd expected from reviews. The automatic transmission also seems to have too many intervening actions before engagement of next ratio. So not really a driverâs car in my opinion.
August 25, 2020
I do wonder why companies are always try to court the young generations into what most youth consider a middle aged persons brand, and there are many fine brands in this category. Do companies not realise that when these youthful customers become middle-aged they too will become customers.
Marks and Spencers is a prime example, they alienated their core customers by selling goods such as dresses that only youthful customers could wear. A particular example comes to mind where the sales rack was surrounded by their core customers searching through unsold stock aimed at the young. No young customers in sight! And no sales either I suspect.
August 25, 2020
I love Jaguar cars. We bought them in South Africa even though the import duty was 100%. I have always had a Jag – the last being an XF, but I miss the Leaper, I miss the look of the whole car leaning forward and âpouncingâ. I miss the luxury âgentlemanâs clubâ style inside, I hate the fact they want me to âspec my own carâ – so if I forget to ask for something basic like the wing mirrors to fold in, I have a permanent irritant of my own making.
I have not replaced my car and refuse to have an expensive, mundane, useless vehicle.
If we let our own designers loose to produce real Jag, one you recognize from any angle from half a mile, a beautiful car that makes every journey a real pleasure, an economical engine but one that purrs, I will put my order in so fast it might be the only thing to outstrip an e-type!
August 25, 2020
Jaguar’s plight is much discussed and no-one seems to know how to rescue it.
Issues include:
– Its SUV range is inferior to/less desirable than its Land/Range Rover counterparts;
– Saloon cars have become unfashionable (witness Ford America) and so achieving volume sales is a struggle for many;
– Its preference for aluminium over steel (@ c. 25 per cent. extra cost) for lighter weight has not paid off since more sound insulation is needed (adding much weight back) and presenting unwelcome design constraints (thicker pillars that compromise visibility). (Apparently BMW use composites and magnesium to obtain comparable weight loss for much reduced overall cost.)
– Does Jaguar have the know-how in battery technology to complete with Tesla and others? (It is encouraging that the I-Pace has been well-received, but it is expensive.)
August 25, 2020
The I-Pace, comes from the ‘Magna Steyr’ manufacturing facility in Austria
August 25, 2020
Funny you should choose this post today John. Our Range Rover is in for a service and a tweak of the engine. We have been given a Jaguar XF to drive. The car is lovely to drive but inpractical for us as we have a dog. If you don’t want an SUV then Jaguar offer no choice to suit us. If they could come up with a very stylish, sporty hatch then we would definitley consider buying one. The only problem with it all is the price and the hefty envy tax the government has put on anything over ÂŁ40k. It’s hard to stay under that price with Land Rover or Jaguar. People are already paying more tax when they buy the vehicle so why tax them more just because of the price? Before the Mike Wilson types butt in, people earn their money and should not be penalised just because they like a nice car to drive. It may be their only luxury in life foregoing alot of holidays etc.. I love both the Jaguar and Land Rover brand but these penalties are putting us off buying another one added to which the debacle over diesel and electric is also a concern to us. My advice to government is stop all this climate change rubbish, don’t force people to drive electric when they really don’t want to and stop taxing our motor industry to death. Butt out!
August 25, 2020
Sorry John, forgot to add that they do make an estate car but not everyone wants such a large car for the dog.
August 25, 2020
Sorry to correct you Jaguar call their estate a ‘wagon’ why who knows.
Jaguar XF Wagon
August 25, 2020
Short for âstation wagonâ – probably for the US market.
August 25, 2020
Ian well maybe I’m just an old fashioned gal.
August 26, 2020
Wagen?
August 25, 2020
As a former CEO of the Jaguar importer in a challenging export market, I am saddened to see how few Jaguars are sold there nowadays. They achieve about 10% of Audi sales and 4 to 5% of BMW and Mercedes-Benz. It’s true that Range Rover have taken up the slack with higher sales but substituting for Jaguar market share is not very clever.
The cars now get quite good reviews for performance, ride & handling and economy. Dealers don’t score very well. Personally I feel the individuality of Jaguar has been lost. BMW and M-Benz are immediately recognisable but Jaguars could really be any make from a distance.
Of course the E Type was dramatic and stylish but that’s almost 60 years ago ! Well before the US federal safety and emission regulations made cars uglier and gutless for a while. One chief engineer (MG) said that to design a car you took all the regulations and drew a line
round them.
My personal favourite was the XJC, the now very rare two-door coupe version of the 1970s XJ. I drove the V12 model for many years as a classic car and it was everything Jaguar had ever stood for. Including drinking fuel at 12 mpg !
August 25, 2020
Worth every gulp.
August 25, 2020
Yeuk to the XJC. The same company that made the E Typeđ! Awful pit of pressed metal.
August 25, 2020
Off topic again, another assault on our history and culture with the BBC banning the singing of ‘Rule Britannia’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ at the Proms. I’ve just reviewed the lyrics, and silly and trite as some of them are there is no basis to claim they are racist. The claim against ‘Rule Britannia’ is the line ‘Britons never shall be slaves’.
1. Slavery is not owned by ethnic minorities. The Romans took slaves from these islands long before we even knew that BAME people existed, and African pirates raided our south coast to enslave our citizens and take them to Africa. According to American academic Thomas Sowell white slaves were still being traded in Africa many years after the West African slave trade was stopped.
2. If slavery is a bad thing, why is it bad to state that your citizens won’t be slaves?
August 25, 2020
One benefit of this spat is that it seems to have reminded Boris whose side he is on.
August 26, 2020
but finally picking a fight with a trivial issue. Come on Boris stop bickering from the seats and get into the ring!
August 25, 2020
Tata has invested huge sums in trying to build Jaguar sales volumes. Clearly it has failed to do so. Part of the reason is, in my view, poor interiors compared with its German competitors. We had owned a previous generation Sportbrake but disliked the interior of its successor so we did not buy it. Another reason has been the global sales decline of sedans (or saloon cars in UK parlance) as customers have switched to SUVs/crossovers which they have decided are more practical vehicles to own. Jaguars crossovers were late to the party but still outsell their sedans (XE/XF/XJ).
Jaguar is awkwardly placed now because it has significant excess capacity and some models are (no doubt expensively) assembled by contracted suppliers (I-Pace and E-Pace). I suspect the new BEV XJ has been delayed in part to defer cash spending at a time when JLR cash flow is under acute pressure and partly to allow more time for more advanced battery technology to be developed. JLR is engaged with others (Ilika and Warwick Manufacturing group) in seeking to develop solid state battery packs which offer better range, faster charging and greater storage density. A new CEO is also about to start work.
T new CEO starts in about a week`s time. No doubt an early task for him will be to work out a viable strategy for Jaguar. Jaguar is now closely integrated with many aspects of Land Rover operations – sharing many technologies, components and facilities. Selling it off as a working entity would be possible but extremely messy. JLR also needs Jaguar to keep its fleet average fuel economy as low as possible, otherwise politically imposed penalties for making and selling Range Rovers could be unsustainable. He could easily conclude that the UK is now such a hostile environment that Tata should consider their long term (10-15 year) options for relocating the whole business out of the UK.
August 25, 2020
Good nostalgic piece. I remember seeing the XK120 in a car showroom window for the first time as a youngster and could not believe how amazing it looked. That appeal has long since gone. Innovation in design has declined generally in cars and when it is difficult to name a manufacturer without seeing the badge, which frequently is the only unique feature, then mass production of similar models can only lead to fewer assemblers.
August 25, 2020
It the XK120 is one of the most beautiful things ever bashed out of medal. The ultimate beauty? For me, an Austin Healey 3000 Mk II. In Kingfisher Blue over Old English White.
Oops! Can one say âOld English Whiteâ these days? Might be racist or imperialist perhaps.
August 25, 2020
Maybe part of the problem is they were no longer happy with serving their older wealthy successful user base and tried to appeal to a younger demographic and failed and are now missing the cash provided by their former, now alienated, customers. No doubt the Jaguar executives making this decision were old, wealthy and successful themselves and feeling a bit guilty about that. There are many similar examples of this kind of thinking across many sectors who end up alienating their wealthy customers who provided their money – the National Theatre is another.
August 25, 2020
2 Jags dented Jaguar’s appeal unlike SJR I think who owned 1.
Their USA market may have suffered when their saloon was based on Ford’s Mondeo platform and the expected ‘baby Jag’ market was taken by the classic Rover 75 styling.
Relaunching saloons with powerful diesels was successful until the Govt esp Hammond decided against diesels – Denounced death knell Disruption nightmare for car manufacturers.
August 25, 2020
And EU emissions directives killed petrol engines in Jaguars. BMA and Mercedes could still make petrol engines inside those emission regs. Regs suit Germany once again. Note Dyson ‘s comments re vacuum cleaner power.
August 25, 2020
AF Franculo
“BMW and Mercedes could still make petrol engines inside those emission regs”
German manufacturers run their engines really hot to get the Nox down, right on the the thermal limits of engine materials…..ask anyone who’s had cam failure what they think of German cars.
(German gearboxes aint sensible either)
August 25, 2020
The BBC has come up with an eloquent solution to the proms question. Rule Britannia without the words. An instrumental. Brilliant. Those who want to sing the offensive words can. Those who donât want to donât have to.
I have found this an interesting debate. I had never thought about how those old songs are actually a celebration of slavery, colonialism and oppression. And it is good to learn new perspectives on things. I am pleased I now know these are upsetting to many and I will gladly hum the tunes and not sing the words. Most of which most of us donât know anyway.
It is important that when we learn history in schools that we donât just learn the good bits. Britain has done some wonderful things for the world. And we have committed some inexcusable atrocities too. We must be taught both.
The film Zulu portrays the brave British soldiers defending themselves from thousands of savages. Actually, in Southern Africa, the British were frequently butchers – deliberately starting conflicts. We mustnât forget that.
Every country is the same. It has good bits of history and bad bits. And we should remember all of it.
The next time a US president visits our shores – hopefully President Biden, President Harris or President Ocasio-Cortez (she is one to watch) – they will be greeted with a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. The words to the US national anthem were largely written by Francis Scott Key – as he sat on a hill during the War of 1812 watching British ships bomb an American fort in Baltimore. A war during which we sacked their cities and burned down the presidential mansion in Washington forcing President Madison to flee. After the war the mansion was rebuilt – and was painted white.
The Star-Spangled Banner and the White House survive today. Two symbols of British defeat.
A lot of Europhobes like to claim France is not our friend. They point to a long history of conflict. But our last war with France ended in 1815. The same year that we ended our last war with the United States.
August 25, 2020
Well you are trying to be accommodating today Andy. Are you well?
Actually the US war of Independence was won by the British ârabble-armyâ against German Georgeâs troops in red jackets and the French under La Fayette. We always beat the Germans but they simply cannot comprehend that simple fact and keep trying. The Star Spangled Banner, The White House, and the Scot President Trump, stand as testimony to British Victory and their love of freedom and independence, hard work well rewarded and the Rule of Law on our Judeo-Christian principles.
You are as likely to see âpresident Meghan Markle – wokeâ as Biden! But I stand ready to welcome Trump in his second term as POTUS – To the U.K. which he loves and which loves and admires him! His achievements are to great for even LL to understand, so he will probably never get just recognition in life. But his place in history is assured. A Great Man.
August 25, 2020
PS we had to sink the French Navy in WWII. Vichy France was an enemy and we have bust a gut to give them a break and pretend they were allies – just as we never mention the war to the Germans – Well I do. All of them. Including the US War of Independence.
August 25, 2020
Lynn, As my husband says “what have the French ever done for us?”
August 26, 2020
appealed to those of our forefathers who wanted to be heroes?
August 25, 2020
What a cultural Marxist you are Andy.
You have such a clichéd view of the world.
So predictable.
Have you been brainwashed or did you come up with these views yourself?
August 25, 2020
Please explain what “cultural marxism” is, and what its relationship – if any – with marxism is?
Thanks.
August 25, 2020
It’s the same as Marxism but with make up on.
August 25, 2020
I’m guessing but maybe
the abolition of attaching different values to different cultures,
then,
demanding equality of cultures,
hence, meming into pejorative use against those who weaponise everything from a mulicultural perspective. The tennis of lobbing the word ‘racist’ from one side of a debate and returning the phrase ‘cultural marxist’ in the other direction.
August 25, 2020
Quite right, Martin.
What is taking place is Gramscian.
August 26, 2020
So you “explain” your conspiracy theory mumbo-jumbo with yet more.
Fail.
August 25, 2020
OK
But who voted for these changes ?
Oh.
Andy doesn’t care about voting ! The oldest swinger in town is trying to be hip and down wi’ da kids !
August 25, 2020
PS
My Comp taught me nothing BUT the bad bits about British history and it didn’t matter whether the lesson was English, history, geography… it all came with an anti Imperialist message.
August 25, 2020
Jags please not Nags …… I think you posted this to the wrong website.
Try Momentum and Socialist Workers Party instead please give us a break.
August 25, 2020
Itâs good to see you have been learning some history. Well done you. Quite why you have to parade your new knowledge is anyoneâs guess. Perhaps you assume others are as ignorant as you and need you to share.
August 25, 2020
“In the 1980 Census, over 49 million (49,598,035) Americans claimed English ancestry. At 26.34%, this was the largest group amongst the 188 million people who reported at least one ancestry.”
August 26, 2020
Could you name your eight great grandparents, and state their nationalities please, a-tracy?
Then maybe the generation before?
Come on, it’s only sixteen.
August 25, 2020
Time to defund the BBC.
Of ALL times. It picks now to wage a cultural war against the people who pay its fees.
August 25, 2020
“There is now wide debate about the racist names of pubs.” BBC The One Show.
Err yeah. The BBC just started it !
August 25, 2020
+1 do it unilaterally!
August 25, 2020
Which words are offensive?
August 25, 2020
I was reliably informed last year that all Jaguarâs problems were âbecause of Brexitâ. Laughable.
August 25, 2020
Some of Jaguars problems are due to the EU And their single currency. It allows Germany to trade at Portuguese rates rather than the real rate of the dâmark, and undercut British and American cars. Itâs. âBetter thy neighbourâ tactic which has âearnedâ billions for Germany.
August 25, 2020
â begger thy neighbourâ … sorry. My âconfuserâ keeps telling what it thinks I should be saying – I call it Boris.
August 25, 2020
I bought my Jaguar, rather an Audi A4, because of Brexit.
August 25, 2020
Bravo.
August 25, 2020
We won’t buy German or French.
August 26, 2020
Likewise. I’ll be maintaining my own trade embargo until they start acting like the friends we were once told they were. When the EU has offered us an FTA that’s better than they’ve given to those countries that haven’t showered hundreds of billions of pounds on Brussels, I’ll be off to the shops for some Bavarian smoked cheese. Lord, how I miss it!
August 26, 2020
Onerous self-denial, and all because of a complete delusion.
It’s literally pitiful.
August 25, 2020
Not Quite, the UK government upped the tax on their purchase and the market collapse the following day
August 25, 2020
Barbara
“I was reliably informed last year that all Jaguarâs problems were âbecause of Brexitâ”
…..being made in Austria, ZF transmissions, shaped not like a Jaguar, designed – in corrosion, no owner serviceability etc…….might have something to do with it.
August 25, 2020
Maybe Jaguar could build the Army a replacement tank, capable of matching the new Russian Armata
If anyone doubts the malign influence of Russia on the party and the MoD, wait for the Conservative anouncement next month that in order to streamline the Army and make it “fitter and leaner” we need to dispense with our remaining Challenger II tanks, our armoured warfare capability and another 25,000 troops.
Culminating in the current thinking that to save money we should scrap the Royal Armoured Corps and its associated Jackal infantry fighting vehicles (which are brand new), this will render us defenceless against a Russian amphibious assault on the mainland UK.
In a week when the Admiralty could only send out a couple of patrol boats (with peashooters) to escort no less than 7 Russian naval vessels transiting the English Channel, words fail me at the idiocy of this suggestion as reported in The Times today.
August 25, 2020
The Conservative back-benchers need to kick up a stink. Our commitment to NATO must involve the maintenance of a ‘heavy metal’ capability – because that’s the threat across the Russian border. The revolutionary communists and anarchists holding sway inside No 10 – especially those seeking to turn the army into little more than a gendarmerie – must now be given their marching orders. Perhaps they could go and explore business opportunities in Russia.
August 25, 2020
At least the UK can get all their frontline ground forces into Wembley Stadium with room to spare. You would need 9 Stadiums to capacity to satisfy the Russian Army.
Mind you some of the commentators here would love them to move in and take over.
The MOD seem to be a mindless flip flopping outfit that are to up themselves to care either way. Perspective the UK has on 17 surface warships and they are spread around the World, that’s the reason Putin keeps prodding the nest. He can and finds it funny.
August 25, 2020
The destroyer/frigate force numbers 19, to which you need to add a couple of aircraft carriers, two LPDs, patrol vessels, MCMVs and RFAs. But we could probably agree that the RN is too small.
August 25, 2020
Defenceless except for 150-odd Typhoon aircraft to maintain air superiority in the North Sea (plus anything our American friends might choose to contribute) andF35Bs & RN destroyers with anti-ship missiles to deal with the shipping. I think that should be enough to deal with seven Russian landing ships pus escorts operating more than a thousand miles from home base.
Personally I’m more worried about Russia’s submarine capability than the prospect of an amphibious landing in the UK. They’ve been investing heavily in that area for 20+ years and their latest boats are exceptionally quiet.
August 26, 2020
At any one time – including Typhoons deployed overseas – the RAF has about 45 airworthy planes. The remainder are under maintenance, waiting for spare parts/fuel/missiles etc. About a third of all RAF planes are currently grounded and you can be sure that the Russians know this.
The Admiralty will withdraw the obsolete Harpoon anti-ship missile in 2023 and there are currently no plans to replace it until 2030 and in any case it is currently only fitted to three of our Duke class destroyers
The Army currently has roughly 175 serviceable Challenger II tanks out of the original availability of ~575. The remainder are waiting for maintenance/spare parts or mothballed
The number of available Astute class hunter-killer boats is a closely held state secret but is widely believed to be 2-3. The Navy is so strapped for boats to protect the new carriers and the nuclear deterent that they have spent billions refurbishing the 34 year-old HMS Trenchant which is now on patrol.
On 6th February the Minister for Defence Procurement confirmed in Parliament that all 7 Astute class submarines would be completed by the end of 2026, however due to problems with HMS Audacious this date has now slipped.
The reason for current speculation of further cuts to armed forces capabilities is that the MoD finds it easier to do this than solve the real problem – institutional procurement incompetence and chronic overspending. The MoD is a bottomless pit into which the taxpayer pours billions each year rectifying cock-ups.
August 26, 2020
last para – – exactly!
August 26, 2020
Tanks are soooo last decade.
August 25, 2020
Good news about the Appledore shipyard. Perhaps we could talk shipbuilding sometime in the next few weeks.
August 25, 2020
Just think – if all the unpatriotic buyers of BMWs, Audis and Mercedes over the last 25 years had bought Jags instead we would probably have no balance of payments deficit it and 2 million extra jobs in this country. You pesky buyers of foreign goods have a lot to answer for.
August 25, 2020
Richard Littlejohn was it not?
August 25, 2020
My favourite Jaguar is the 1980s XJ6. Especially with midnight blue exterior, blue / grey interior and walnut dashboard. I would love to own Margaret Thatcher’s one but I guess it’s in some very lucky person’s private collection somewhere. I will keep searching!!
August 25, 2020
John,
Well worth getting a copy of the new “Rail” magazine. Some very hard hitting stuff after the crash in Scotland…
Unusual to see such brutal truth there in black and white about the media, politics and the way the country is run!
August 25, 2020
There are literary thousands of EU directives on vehicle type-approval build i.e the EU have so many laws on how to design and manufacture cars thereâs no point in having a design team or any innovation
On top of those laws and regulations throw in the UK business rates and environmental nonsense I am surprised we have any manufacturing in the UK let alone strong brands
August 25, 2020
“Environmental nonsense”
Have you any knowledge, or recollection of, for instance, the murky, stinking, open sewers and chemical waste dumps, which passed for our main rivers and inshore waters in the 1960s?
August 25, 2020
Gosh
Never knew how bad Carfiff was in the 1990s
What a ridiculous fantasy you try to create.
August 26, 2020
I lived near to the Trent in the 1960s.
It was exactly as I describe.
I lived near the Thames in the 1970s – the same.
I read that the Taff was alike then.
August 26, 2020
A ridiculous exaggeration.
August 26, 2020
Where were you then, Ed?
August 25, 2020
Whats that got to do with the material, size, shape, fit design, weight and ident of a windscreen which are all EU regulations
August 26, 2020
Martin – I thought you were talking about Labour when I read :
‘Have you any knowledge, or recollection of, for instance, the murky, stinking, open sewers ‘.
August 25, 2020
My favourite car! Also an old Rolls!
August 25, 2020
I see in the September 2020 issue of the Which? magazine the item ‘The good, the bad and the cars we want recalled’. In terms of reliability in the first three years then eight years of ownership (as a new car), the first twelve are: Lexus, Toyota, Suzuki, Honda, Mini, Mazda, Hyundai, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Kia.
Out of 34 car brands for which problems were reported by their owners, Jaguar comes in 27th position and Land Rover in 32nd position. For the brands near the very bottom of the reliability list, the most common problems/complaints were detailed: LR Range Rover and LR Discovery are quoted with recurring engine cooling problems, software issues, and average repair time between five and seven days.
August 25, 2020
Maybe I should add this reliability survey included 41,003 answers between Dec’19 and Feb’20, was not considering the purchase price in the report. Porsche gets the 16th position, BMW the 19th position, Mercedes-Benz the 22nd and Audi the 26th position.
August 25, 2020
I share you’re frustration !
I have owned several Jaguars over the years : an XJ40, bought new when the car was launched. That was succeeded by a new V12 XJS which I bought in 1989 and kept until 2014. For several years I also had a classic 3.9 litre Mkll.
They were all fantastic cars and terrific value for money compared with the opposition but when it came to replacing the XJS as my primary car in 1994, I bought my first Audi.
The XJS was kept long term because nothing could match it for grace and pace touring around Europe but it eventually rusted away after only 65,000 miles and had to be scrapped. My greatest disappointment. It was replaced with another V12-engined car – a 10-year-old Ferrari 575M Grand Tourer which, being aluminium remains in perfect condition after 16 years.
I’ve looked at a reason to buy another Jaguar but the current new range are of no real interest. Others, like Audi, build better cars and my current primary car is an Audi A7 which I cannot fault.
The F Type looks great but has no boot to speak of : it is useless for even a weekend away. The previous XK was much better. I admire Jaguar’s engineering and innovation : The all-electric iPace is brilliant but at ÂŁ75,000 is far too expensive and the real-world range is at best 200 miles, not the claimed 298 as I found out when I tried one for 24 hours.
Would I by another Jaguar ? Yes, but new Jaguars, other than the iPace, no longer have that uniqueness, or that model is not good value for money. Instead, it would have to be the very best V12 XJS I could find. It rides far better than the Ferrari, although the roadholding cannot compare. But I would look after it and use it sparingly to keep the rust at bay.
Sorry, Sir Ralf !
August 25, 2020
A friends neighbour has an absolutely perfect XJS in his garage.
Jags are not the same since they stopped building them in Coventry.
August 26, 2020
non- running?
August 26, 2020
nope perfect in every way, and running
August 25, 2020
My understanding is that Jaguar, along with many other car manufacturers, spent a lot of time and money designing a range of new diesels, then the government’s lurch towards electric cars blew their strategy out of the water.
Jaguar also have poor residual values, which affects the desirability of the new models. Perhaps they need to address the underlying reasons for that – I know that their parts and servicing are expensive and they do not have a great reputation for reliability. All of those are reasons to avoid Jaguar.
What *used* to be in the plus column is that they used to be considered worth the cost (all aspects of the cost, as noted above), but these days so many car makers make very good, efficient, reliable cars that there’s no need to pay over the odds for a Jag.
For a British car to be relatively expensive, it needs to be better. It used to be cheap to by a British Leyland car, warts ‘n’ all. Ford and Vauxhall make good cars that are relatively cheap but have poor residuals, which is why they are where Jaguar are.
In essence, Jaguar are no better than those two, they just charge more and any differences are negatives.
August 25, 2020
The cats out the bag
All government policy (u-turns) is direct in Scotland
August 26, 2020
By combining Jaguar with Land-Rover there was a reluctance for Jaguar to compete in the lucrative and expanding SUV market so it’s fortunes went south.
August 26, 2020
Lastly, why don’t the Tories please talk with people such as Dyson, Bamford, McLaren and others about how the UK can design, produce and own the British Audis and VWs and BMWs of the future?
Not just sports cars or run of the mill cars like from the 1970’s – but really good quality, stylish cars that can be sold en masse.
August 26, 2020
It would be great to see the Tories do this and develop the UK’s Silicon Valley in the area between Oxford and Cambridge, and encourage kids to code so that we produce the future generation of Apples, Amazons, Googles etc ..
August 26, 2020
Two other points re Jaguar:
1. They only make cars that compete in the luxury space or thereabouts, it would be good to see a genuine British manufacturer making quality cars that are more standard models.
2. They may do better after Brexit if we leave on WTO terms with the UKGT applying 10% on automobiles.
It seems to me that WTO is the best initial outcome for the UK – what might be negotiated after 1/1/21 when the political heat goes out of Brexit is another matter. It would also allow us to leave the WA treaty without loss of national credibility, since the process will not have been as defined in Article 50 (and the treaty hasn’t really been fully in force, certainly not for long).
August 27, 2020
Well said Lynn ,
Love everything you say
Live for ever my love
Say it like it is as always.
Sadly you are one in the gutless party
Those poor sods who voted for our leader, are bitterly upset by the now to be Remainer. Party.
Other way to look at it is Lib Lab Tories, non of them in the Grand Alliance would dream of WTO