Jaguar changing its conservative image

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British iconic brand Jaguar is working hard on changing its conservative image and the to-be-launched XF is a strong attempt in that direction. Jaguar has released details of the car today, which would help Jaguar's owner Ford in selling the British marquee.

 

Jaguar is changing. After getting beaten by rivals like Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi, Jaguar is now donning the image of a modern, stylish and trendy carmaker to take them on. And the XF, which will replace the S-Type, tells that, atleast in terms of design. The S-type was competing with the likes of Mercedes Benz E-class and BMW 5-series.

 

But now, the X-F is expected to draw the younger customers something that the S-Type was not quite successful at. Peter Grunert, deputy editor of British motoring magazine Top Gear is one of the very few who has seen the car in flesh and blood.

 

"It's a car that somebody arguably in their 30s such as myself could begin to identify with. It was not talking about the past although Jaguar has an amazing heritage. It's a little cruel but Jaguar is conservative and old fashioned. It's fighting very hard to reinvent itself. We first saw it in the XK coupe. XF is a new dawn," He says Peter Grunert.

 

And to back that claim, Analysts expect new customers even in Asia to open up for Jaguar with the XF, which will be launched on 11th September and will go on sale in the UK from March 2008. Asia, with an increasing rich population contributes to 14% of Jaguar sales. Jaguar, which has been making losses, has not been an attractive target to buyers, more so when compared to Land Rover. And that's one reason why Ford has clubbed them together. The XF, some say, will help Jaguar in becoming a better buy than before.

  

"Any potential buyer looking at the range now, with the exception of the X-type will be getting a very fresh, modern line-up of car basically" adds James Disdale, Autoexpress UK

 

Jaguar's X-type did not perform as expected. And one of the reasons was that people knew that it shared a lot with the Ford Mondeo, which did not enjoy the same brand equity. But now Jaguar, or rather Ford, is playing a smart game. It is rolling out products with sharp modern design and technology to attract customers and more importantly attract buyers to pay a better price than they would without these new offerings. Jaguar claims car like the XF is its future.