Jaguar is 'rebranding' itself BECAUSE people weren't buying their already great cars... not the other way around.

Posted by SportsGamesScience@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 40 comments

I'd love to know why people weren't buying them more too. In style and design, imo they beat many Audis, Mercs and BMWs between 2016 - present.

The XF is and has been incredibly stylish the last 10 years, with the previous-gen being offered in a powerful 380hp V8.
The F-Type is one of the last producing N/A V8s on the entire planet, with a beautiful design and driving experience, not to forget mentioning, sound.
The C-X75 was an icon in the James Bond 'Spectre' movie that caught eyes. It was an engineering marvel and presented levels of soul-enriching spirit in a car, that the car community hadn't been seeing in a while.
The F-Pace... is more powerful and stylish than its competition.
A rich history of beautiful, and exotic cars, with its vintage cars repeatedly being acclaimed as some of the most beautiful cars on the planet.

But people didn't buy their cars the last decade or 2.

And now new brands like Genesis are getting the sales that Jaguar deserved all along.

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Corsair4@reddit

The XF

Stagnated for a decade?

380 hp isn't that impressive given the competition.

The F-Type

Stagnated for a decade? To be fair, they did facelift it. Subjectively, I think it looks worse.

C-X75

Well, they never made this one in the first place, so I'm guessing that's why it didn't sell well.

The F-Pace Stagnated for slightly less than a decade?

On the lower performance end of things, this offers essentially no benefit over the various hybrid crossovers offered by other companies.

On the higher performance end of things, anyone who was in the market for a Jaguar SUV probably just went to the other side of the dealership and got a Range Rover instead. Or they went to the German manufacturers.

A rich history of beautiful, and exotic cars, with its vintage cars repeatedly being acclaimed as some of the most beautiful cars on the planet.

History doesn't sell new cars. The new cars still need to be competitive. History sells used cars and collector cars.

And now new brands like Genesis are getting the sales that Jaguar deserved all along.

If Jaguar deserved the sales, they would have gotten them. Unfortunately for them, the small executive sedan market is extremely competitive, and they let their offering get stale. The luxury crossover market is extremely competitive, and they let their offering get stale. The 2 door luxury coupe/roadster market is shrinking, and they let their offering get stale.

Seeing a trend here?

You can level many valid criticisms at Kia/Hyundai/Genesis, but they are extremely aggressive about updating their vehicles.

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RiftHunter4@reddit

I'd love to know why people weren't buying them more too.

Jag failed because it had the same problems as Alfa and Maserati: bad reliability, high maintenance costs, a lack of fresh designs, and a surprising lack of originality.

You can't beat the competition by being on part with them, especially if your dealer network looks like a map plot of people who know what a Venturi 400 is lol.

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Quatro_Leches@reddit

the problem is that Jaguar has no heritage, look at Porsche, probably the most comparable car maker historically to Jag, they literally have been making the same cars for many many years, they do not change their style. they have loyal customer base, Jaguar cars do not look like Jaguar cars and havent for decades, they never stuck with their classic designs and modernized instead they chased trends and looked genetic and failed everywhere.

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Medical-Gate-9978@reddit

Jag has no heritage? The E-Type is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cars. Then you have icons like the XJ220, original XK, and even more recently the F-Type. They may not have a strong brand identity now, but Jaguar has a very rich history and pedigree.

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SportsGamesScience@reddit (OP)

Wrong. Jaguar has immense heritage.

I guess you could blame Jaguar's marketing team for you not knowing that though, that is a true.

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Corsair4@reddit

"Heritage" doesn't sell cars. You can look at the state of the British automotive industry for that - Basically the only company still around is Land Rover. All the other names with a ton of heritage have been sold to other companies, or are lying in a graveyard somewhere.

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cra3ig@reddit

I don't vote 'messaging'.

And I don't drive 'marketing'.

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chauggle@reddit

Jaguar killed the golden goose.

They had a gorgeous sedan lineup (XJ, XF), a decent British Mustang (F-Type), a great GT (XK), and a solid mid-small SUV (F-Pace).

The pricing wasn't dumb, and they included FIVE YEARS of service with the FIVE YEAR warranty.

All clients had to do was put gas in it and insure it.

Stay the course, make subtle improvements, carry on.

Instead, they kill the XJ, kill the XK, neuter the F-Type (AWD only), add a crap small SUV (E-Pace), and do an electric (i-Pace - not horrible).

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Shienvien@reddit

Reputation for poor reliability and price, mostly.

The current lineup is three somewhat generic-looking SUVs, as well as one sedan and one coupe - which look outwardly nice, but aren't that outstanding.

Jaguar's UK site is kind of bad for conveniently looking at info on the cars. It's all artsy closeups. The model names are also kind of a jumble of letters for the uninitiated - why are there both F-Pace and F-Type? Why is the I electric and the E not?

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SportsGamesScience@reddit (OP)

What cars today are 'that' outstanding?

The Jaguar lineup is more stylish than whatever BMW and Mercedes are doing right now.

Then your following points are about their model-naming conventions which I'm sorry, but that's clutching at straws. BMW and their 'M' fixation, and Porsche and their 'Turbo' fixation are much bigger offenders.

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Shienvien@reddit

"More stylish" is incredibly subjective (and Jaguar isn't definitely only competing with Mercs and BMWs). If you look at the Mercedes lineup alone, then there are just that many more different vehicles in their lineup, closer to 50 than 5, starting at only half the price of the cheapest Jag. Jag isn't selling a station wagon at this time, Merc is. And while I think the "melted" back end on some of the current Merc sedans looks terrible, the others look just fine.

Jaguar is a smaller carmaker and has a smaller selection accordingly. They don't currently make manual cars (haven't for the last 4 years, and pretty much guaranteed never will again). They don't currently make station wagons, which I generally consider more appealing than SUVs unless I intend to go off-road with the particular vehicle. "Infotainment" systems are often a bit hit or miss. Their EVs don't have got that good rated range, which means that I could probably not make it to destination and back here on one charge and no one wants to sit around a charging station for half an hour every single week. Most people are only looking to get one new car at a time - so in some way, whichever gets picked literally has to outcompete everyone else.

(I am aware a lot of car makers are naming their cars XLRD360 Crosstrek Super instead of something that can be actually remembered, but it's still a bit of a pre-existing branding problem.)

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virgosnake777@reddit

I quit following them when completely dropped their designs. Their new styling was very anonymous. A Camry has more style.

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SportsGamesScience@reddit (OP)

I wouldn't be surprised if you think previous gen Audis were 'boring' amiright?

In what dumb world does a camry have more style than Jaguar models

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Rat_King1972@reddit

I mean the f-type is a good looking car, not great. Every other model is regular traffic.

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SportsGamesScience@reddit (OP)

N/A V8.

I agree it doesn't have AS MUCH flair as its competitors, but it's not bad looking. It's like a solid 7.5/10.

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StatusCount7032@reddit

Earth. Welcome to earth.

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SportsGamesScience@reddit (OP)

People like you are the reason why BMW fucked its design dna up.

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SportsGamesScience@reddit (OP)

If a car doesn't look like a lamborghini: boring

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Chrodesk@reddit

F-Type - no one buys 2 door cars (and at 80k your competing with corvette and 718)

F-pace, more powerful? 246hp? you can step up the p400 for 67k, which is the same price as the glc amg43.

XF- as we enter its 9th year, the interior/tech is not competitive. Not that luxury sedans are in a good place for anyone.

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SportsGamesScience@reddit (OP)

F-Pace is a GLE SUV competitor, not a GLC competitor, so it's disingenuous to claim its as expensive as a top of the line lower-tier vehicle, when its roughly similar in price to its actual competition models.

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BooBooMaGooBoo@reddit

You mean it's not because their cars weren't buying people?

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Unlucky_Reception_30@reddit

Jaguars offerings are the best tech from 10 years ago but at today's prices.

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CryptographerBig7542@reddit

Just a Ford by another name

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markeydarkey2@reddit

Ford hasn't owned Jaguar in 16 years.

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SportsGamesScience@reddit (OP)

Audi just a VW by another name.

Lexus just a Toyota by another name.

Go on.

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CryptographerBig7542@reddit

Exactly.

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FooJBunowski@reddit

I have a 2022 GV70 now, and wouldn’t mind getting an F Pace when I sell it in a year or two, but the 4 cylinder is pretty slow. The price on the six might be a little bit out of my range in new/1 year old. Plus I have a terrible commute to work with heavy traffic, and gas mileage is an issue.

I like the looks of it, just wish it had a little more HP.

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Valeen@reddit

Audi screwed up stateside once and it took decades for them to recover.

Jags were basket cases in the 80s and 90s and then they put their badge on a gd Taurus. They just haven't done enough to repair their image here, and I'm honestly not sure how changing their logo is going fix their image.

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Muggi@reddit

A buddy showed up all happy with a used X-Type a few years back, and I mean it wasn’t a BAD car but it’s just…not a Jag. He traded it in on a Rogue and is very happy they did. That says something

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nottaroboto54@reddit

Growing up around some well to do people in the USA: That one French PM/President who said some crappy things about America a few years back, and then almost immediately Jaguar released a pompous sounding commercial, so (Although they aren't related) there was a perceived connection between the two, and so at least for the small group i was around that could afford them, non of them will ever buy one.

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SportsGamesScience@reddit (OP)

No need to show me the horseshit they're doing.

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