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Jaguar Sales Crumble in U.S. in February - 24/7 Wall St.

Why Jaguar Sales Have Crumbled
By Douglas A. McIntyre March 7, 2015 8:35 am EDT


Despite strong reviews of its new F-TYPE, Jaguar sales on the United States have crumbled. The brand’s sales are so small and the sales of other luxury cars brands are so positive that Jaguar may have trouble getting back on track.

Announcing last month’s results:

For the month of February, Jaguar decreased 9 percent to 1,410 from 1,552 units in February 2014. The brand volume leader, Jaguar XF was down 22 percent off of record February sales in 2014. The Jaguar F-TYPE continues to grow with an increase of 31 percent to 422 units from 322 in February 2014. In 2015, the 16 MY Jaguar F-TYPE will newly be available with options of all-wheel drive and a manual transmission.

It does not say much good when a brand’s “volume leader” posts a sales drop of such a large magnitude.

Strong results for the F-TYPE were so tiny that they barely made a difference:

The Jaguar F-TYPE continues to grow with an increase of 31 percent to 422 units from 322 in February 2014

The problem with relying on the most expensive end of a model line to lift results is that only so many people are willing to pay the premium. The price of an F-TYPE can run more than $100,000.

No car brand in the luxury sector can avoid the dominance of BMW and Mercedes. Each has a broad product line and parent companies with huge sales, tremendous balance sheets, dealer networks and substantial budgets for R&D and product development. Mercedes sold 25,291 cars and light trucks in February, which was up 5.2% from the same period last year. BMW sold 25,201, up 14.5%. Several other luxury brands from companies based in the United States, Germany and Japan have set their goals to take sales away from the two leaders.

Jaguar will continue to be troubled. It is too small and has too few resources to compete in a crowded market.

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By Douglas A. McIntyre

 

This is why they need the XE and the crossover. F-Type, XJ and to a certain extent XF can't sell enough. Unless Jag wants to be very niche. In which case prices need to increase quite a bit to make up for volume.

 

Personally, as long as the brand stays around, I am perfectly happy not seeing a Jaguar for every BMW or Mercedes I see on the road. I've always wanted to own a vehicle that I didn't see on every street corner.

Mercedes, Porsche, and BMW are as common as a Ford or Chevy where I live. Jaguar, not so much...

 

I had an XF as a loaner the other day. Nice comfortable car and not bad looking, but I couldn't help feeling that for the price I'm not sure I would buy one over what else was on offer. And for a largish car it has terrible rear legroom.

 

I have a similar opinion of the XF. Nice car in a vacuum. It just can't compete with a $50k Mercedes.

 

Depending on how they price and option them the XE may be the one to bring some new volume. It looks good and will need to be priced a reasonable step below the XF so as long as there is a reasonable level,of equipment it may get there.

 

XF was a bridge car between the old Jaguar and the new Jaguar. It was the last Ford based Jaguar....

That said, it got old fast....especially the more they decontented it over the years... The next 5 years will be pivotal.

I promise you Jaguar will be successful but it's a long range climb.

 

My prediction is very much in line with yours. I don't think any of this comes as a surprise to either JLR or the investors (Tata), who have poured billions of R&D funding into the company. R&D always has a longer-term pay-off, and that is well understood by any institution willing and able to make such a massive investment.

If you appreciate the F-Type as much as I do, then you can thank Tata, because it's the first new product resulting from their R&D investment.

 

Let me say that I have a 1997 XK-8 drop top with 70K miles on it as of Jan. 2015 - so obviously I don't drive it much. First car is a M-B E550 coupe. My Jaguar has never had one repair - ever. It gets thumbs up from everyone (BRG with coffee leather). So every time I think of upgrading to a new Jag or an Aston Martin my head turns to the Jag dealer who sells both marques - they are the single worst auto dealership I have ever had the misfortune to endure (I could write a book - suffice it to say that the M-B dealer's service is extremely expensive - but honest; I wish I could say the same re the Jaguar dealer - after two amazingly preposterous dealings with them I decided if I ever were to buy another Jag I would have to drive to another city).


Yes, $100,000 for a lightly driven car is kind of nuts - but I would do it if the taste in my mouth re the dealer were better. So with little dollar incentive to buy, I have decided to keep the XK-8, endure the rather mundane performance by today's standards, and just keep on being an old man driving a very pretty old car. And if I do get the urge, there is always a Porsche (*sigh* not really my cup of tea)

 

Jaguar is in a tough position. It's always safer/easier to get the BMW/MB/Porsche. It's like that old saying, "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM." In addition to new cars, they need a very good marketing department and budget. I doubt most 3-series/C-Class potential buyers will even know about the XE.

 

I agree. That's why I bought a Jaguar. Even in a car city like LA they are few around. I don't want to be at a stop light with 3 other F Types. Jaguar has managed this far I think they can survive with smaller numbers. In time the numbers will grow.

 

The XF is an awesome car. I agree that base rental might be boring but the supercharged V8s is fantastic. There is nothing in the MB or BMW palette that is comparable unless you buy an M5 or AMG, which are better but in no way more luxurious or more fun to drive and cost you $20-30K more.

 

I've said this in another thread, but until Jaguar get an active works program going in some world class Motorsport event, they will continue to lack credibility with petrol heads. For goodness sake, even Bentley get that, running an amazing fourth place in the Bathurst 12 Hour GT race with a Continental.

Jaguar MUST sponsor a GT works team IMHO.

 

I bought the F-Type because it is built in small numbers and is rare to see another...I know for a fact I have the only one in my small town of 40,000.

 

Although that would make for a very interesting stop light.

 

Will chime in and agree with most others. I love how exclusive the f type is and can't stand how any mercedes/beamers I see around my area....so boring. But I guess you can't have both exclusiveness and record volume sales.

 

I was reading a review yesterday on the Porsche GT3 and how capable it is as a track car but man...I wouldn't be seen in a Porsche of any kind...they just do nothing for me and the engine is in the wrong place,lol!

 

I own 5 JLR products, and I admit I am a fan of Jaguar. One of the reasons is I enjoy a certain amount of exclusivity. I rarely see another Jag on the road or in a parking lot. Where ever I am people look and point at my cars because they have no real idea what it is until they see the Jaguar logo.

Back in my university days I had a Marketing Professor who told the following story.

"All I need to get from here to there is a basic car with 4 wheels and a seat belt. That is why I drive an Oldsmobile Delta 98 that is more luxurious than most of your living rooms" We all want to make a statement about ourselves.

If we all want basic luxury driving cars we would all drive MB, Audi or BMW's. We chose to drive Jaguars because we love the look, exclusivity and prestige.

The top 10 luxurious car brands around the world

 

Here in the DC area, Jags aren't all that rare and every 4th SUV seems to be a Land Rover. I do have to say, though, I've only seen an F-Type twice other than on a dealer lot.

 

I think we have to remember that JLR is doing very well on a global basis and also that the LR side of the house is doing well here in the US. It's Jaguar that's struggling in the US, and the main reason for that is they have no car in the 3/C/A4 class until the XE hits our shores and even that's delayed until next year. Right now the entry point is the XF which is somewhat competitive with the class, but not a class leader and it's also got a relatively high starting price. BMW, MB and Audi shift a TON of product in the classes below those where Jaguar even starts. If I remember correctly, Jaguar has by far the highest average MSRP of its competitors here in the US, and that will, of course, have an impact on sales.

The XE can't come soon enough, and why it's not on sale at the same time as other markets is beyond me. Jaguar will have another year of very poor sales until it's here. Still, as I mentioned in my other thread, the new warranty terms for the current range will definitely help.