All Entries Tagged With: "XJ"
A Friendly Reminder: Jaguar is 75.
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Jaguar Cars, Ltd ::: Jaguar 75 Years
SEVENTY-FIVE years. Don’t they go by in a blink?
Founded in 1922, the Swallow Side Car Company featured roadsters with model designations starting “SS” (i.e, SS100). During the war, Jaguar boss Sir William Lyons had the good sense to change the name of the company to “Jaguar”, deftly navigating round unpalatable connotations with the enemy.
In case you’re doing the math, Jaguar is marking 2010 as the 75th anniversary of the company using the Jaguar name. The historical milestone calls for a celebrations of sorts.
Jaguar’s brought the RSR XKR GT2 to the American track; racing in the American LeMans Series (ALMS). Jaguar also aims to make a special splash at Pebble Beach this year, too.
A right year for the Coventry cat then? With the launch of the next XJ, set against an aging S-Class, LS, and one-year-old 7er, good motor press clippings are likely to follow in the months ahead.
What better way to mark 75 years then?
Jaguar Land Rover Sales Stabilizing
- Jaguar-Land Rover net loss declines to “only” £60 million ($99 million)
- Q2 Announcement comes on the heels of £175 million ($289 million) loan from India
- Group sales rise 23%, Tata records tidy profit
By Gunnar Heinrich
NOT entirely certain what to make of this fiscal info from Tata’s Jaguar Land Rover group.
Jaguar Land Rover Group, jointly declared that sales rose 23% in this latest quarter. The BBC reports that stabilizing losses are due to action seen from the Land Rover division.
Could it be that the new Discovery’s launch is pulling the rest of the group out of the fiscal bog?
Possibly, though, last month’s news was grim across Tata’s board which suggests some media spin at play. Tata Motors lost money last year when the Indian car maker bought the two luxury marques from Ford.
That purchase (which Tata asked the UK government to help finance) started a flow of red ink for Tata; it’s newly acquisitioned Jaguar Land Rover have recorded losses clear through 2009.
Last month, Jaguar Land Rover applied for and received a £175 million loan from the Indian government following Tata turning down further British aid. Reportedly, this brings the total tally of private and sovereign loans to £500 million ($825 million) for Jaguar Land Rover.
Tata’s now recorded an on-paper profit of £2.8 million ($4.7 million) with the latest announcement. Can we directly corelate this Tata profit to an increase in Jag and Landie sales?
Hard to tell with this info coming on the heels of financed capital and within precious few news cycles since October’s loan.
We’ll have a clearer pictures by the second quarter of 2010 when the loans effects are known and the new XJ sedans come to market.
Jaguar’s Future Rests On The Next XJ
The marque’s fate lies just ’round the bend.
By Gunnar Heinrich
JAGUAR. Say the name: “Jag-u-ar” if you’re a Brit, “Jag-whar” if you’re Americano. Either way you say it, the name means sex on wheels. Even if the cars themselves are falling short of that sultry promise these days.
Jaguar’s heritage was born of the swinging sixties; its past and present seemingly in lock step with the baby boomer generation. And like the few baby boomers who seem to be Jag’s last paying customers, it may sadly be that the marque’s best days are well and truly behind them.
And then again, maybe not.
So much will depend on the next M.Y. 2010 Jaguar XJ flagship. Jag seems to be feeding media reports that their next top-of-the-line model will be a four door coupe in Mercedes-Benz CLS fashion. Critics of the marque almost universally agree that the current XJ sedan with its conservatively retro design is so far past its aesthetic sell-by-date that it threatens to spoil the neighboring models in the lineup.
More the case is that the current XJ can be faulted not so much on looks (though, the new aero fascia is garrish) but rather on cheap execution. Despite the sophisticated aluminum (or aluminium, if you prefer) construction, the flagship flops on the luxury details – part of the main appeal in buying an historically less reliable and faster depreciating competitor to BMW or Lexus.
The ‘10 XJ cannot afford to be so cheap in execution. If Jaguar’s next top saloon / four door coupe / whatever fails to reach a Maserati-like allure in being the very essence of the everyday exotic in both look and feel, I’m afraid the cat’s seen off its ninth life.
Here’s hoping for the best.
Alas, Fair Daimler, You’ve Had Your Day
By Gunnar Heinrich
PEDDLING about last weekend on Fisher’s Island (a thin strip of New York that sits off Connecticut’s shoreline), yours happened upon the tragic, yet strangely beautiful sight of an old Daimler that had been left to rot in the parking lot of the island’s Mobil gas station.
The hood to the early 50s DB18 Consort had gone M.I.A.; exposing the six cylinder powerplant*** (see below for update) that would’ve – in its day – powered the fixed head coupe up to a reasonable 76 mph and have returned 22 mpg in the event.
But those days were long ago for this bulwark of Post War British motoring.
The exterior sheetmetal had corroded enough to make it appear as though the car had been brought up from the wreck of the Andrea Doria.
It had that salt washed, surfaced ship appearance about it and I wouldn’t be surprised if a colony of hermit crabs had set up shop in the boot.
Still, remenants of an elegant past remain in that signature crenelated grille; still familiar to American Vanden Plas drivers.
Nearby another Jag also sat seemingly neglected, though judging by the (relatively) recent ferry bumper stickers and current Empire State plates, the creamy white sedan’s ultimate parts-bin retirment must still be some ways off.
But the threat looms large with every gremlin that surfaces, no doubt.
The Daimler would likely make for a fascinating restoration project if only someone had the time, dollars or sterling to invest in what is to most motorists outside of Britain a most obscure marque.
Her best days may yet be ahead [!]…
But for now, she sits. Waiting.
[Linked: Daimler.co.uk | Fisher's Island]
UPDATE *** – I have it on very good authority from a reader who refurbishes antique cars that what we’re looking at is not the original straight six engine but rather an old Chevy V8. This proves two things: 1) that I’ve got some learning to do when it comes to engine ID and 2) that this Daimler was under partial restoration until somebody gave up. Should’ve known. According to the reader, “The twin finned valve covers are a dead give away.” Nuff said.
Audi A7: Forty Thousand Strong
By Gunnar Heinrich
STRETCHING the definition of coupé, we’ve recently discussed how Audi’s four-door A7 will add to a market niche that Benz reintroduced and that the Jaguar XF may yet join.
Little did we know just how strong that market niche could be.
According to CAR, Audi is planning on producing 40,000 units – that’s right – forty thousand quad ringed, low-roofed, four door coupés to battle the likes of the Mercedes-Benz CLS.
To put that figure into some context, Jaguar sold 60,485 units last year. That’s everything from X and S-Types to XJ sedans and XK coupés (two-doors) and convertibles.
[Linked: CAR]
