Agreed, that it is a huge mistake to delay introduction of the XE in the US one year after other major markets. They're just digging a deeper hole for themselves here.

My wife wanted a new car this year, and I had her pumped on the new XE, but once the US intro date was announced, MB got the sale--the new-gen C300.

If there's a rational explanation, I'd love to hear it.

 

Perhaps it's a volume issue? U.S. will be a huge market and they have to build them before they can sell them. If I remember correctly, VW pushed the U.S. release of the new generation Golf by one year for similar volume concerns.

Just a wild guess on my part.

 

Another thought is if JLR wants to become a major player in the U.S., they need to build an assembly plant here. All the new MB C300's are built in Alabama, sold domestically, and exported worldwide. All BMW SUVs (perhaps I'm supposed to say SAV) are built in South Carolina, and also exported worldwide.

 

Then the F-Type would be built by an Indian company assembled by Americans from mostly German parts into a car designed by a Scotsman. Not much of a British heritage left there. I'm hoping the production volumes, at least for the F-Type, remain extremely low (and with at least some British connection remaining).

 

I pulled up to a stoplight next to another F-type, guy didn't even look over.

I am starting to see them more in LA. At least every other drive I'll come across one, but I'm also actively car watching.

 

They are now completing (or have recently completed) an assembly plant in China.

 

My belief is that all US-bound Jaguars - or at least all F-Types - are 100% British built? That was one of many questions fielded by the Product Manager for the F-Type at the MASCDS meeting I attended back in October. I'd like to think that that will continue to be the case...

 

The Chinese assembly plant is for Chinese market vehicles only.

Jaguar Land Rover opens first overseas factory in China

 

IMO, the sales are still reflective of a negative image on Jaguar based on perceived "quality". Before my F-Type showed up, most people didn't know what I ordered (they were thinking Jaguar=Luxury sedan) and only commented on me having endless problems.

Granted, now that the car is here and is nothing of what people expected, they don't say anything about reliability or problems. They are simply stunned and have no words other than "WOW!" (rightly so as the F-Type is just a phenomenal car).

My outsider perspective for Jaguar to increase sales:

1. Improve the 'appearance' of quality. Sure the cars are likely better now, but potential buyers don't know this. I think the recent announcement of the service contact with the warranty on the 2016 F-Types is a good step in this direction.

2. More standard features on their cars. I will say there are a few options I expected to be standard on my car which were not (and IMO at this price point should have been).

3. I think the XE (if priced right) will help introduce Jaguar to a new group of buyers. This could help propel the brand back into the mainstream providing they don't have any glaring quality issues with the XE rollout.

 

X1's are still built in Germany.

 

Yes, I'm aware of that, but it is a quick way to massively increase the identity of relatively obscure brands in a large market. Kia and Hyundai plants in GA and AL, respectively are a good example. That's what JLR is going for in China, which will soon be the largest market in the world.

Secondly, if it is true as you speculate above, that production capacity issues are delaying the introduction of important new products in big markets, they need to build other new plants somewhere.

Niche manufacturers waving the flag of a certain nationality and building on home soil exclusively are an increasingly endangered species, and I believe most face extinction at some point.

Having off-shore assembly plants certainly does not not seem to diminish the sense of national pride associate with certain brands. There are no doubts that MB and BMW are German companies, and it need not be any different for JLR.

 

Alabama or China? Not a choice I'd be making with 90 thousand dollars.😝

 

Have you ever been in a German or UK assembly plant? It would look a lot like the UN General Assembly, only not as well dressed.

 

I agree with you, my post was simply to alleviate RickyJay's concerns that U.S.-bound cars would be built in China, and provide clarification that they would not be.

Considering shipping costs and the currency exchange rate, opening a plant here in the U.S. would be an excellent idea. My guess is Jaguar is putting that money into R&D first, and needs to prove the demand for vehicles in the U.S. would justify the additional expense of building a plant here.

 

Thank you BierNut. I'm not truly concerned - as long as the quality is there, it really makes little difference to me where it's built - although I probably would prefer if my Jaguar is built in England the same way I would prefer my butter come from France. [Truth be told there's a great butter maker right here in Portland, Maine so even that's not completely true].

But thanks for looking out for me.

 

The delay for North America is due to the Safety requirements and environmental regulations here in North America.

The Governments need to set a global standard which will reduce costs for manufacturers. Currently they have to pass different testing and standards for each jurisdiction.

That is why we do not get cars like the Morgan, Nobel, etc...they just don't want to bother with the North American market due to our increased and pointless extra regulations.

 

As my final comment on this subject, where it's built and who builds it has nothing to do with national, regional, or ethnic stereotypes, rather it has everything to do with quality of the materials used, the design, and the QC built into assembly process. Both cheap junk and exquisite quality are manufactured in countries all over the globe.

One can't argue with Apple's success with their halo products produced in China built to high standards of quality and reliability. Virtually every Apple product in the U.S. came from China. You can't argue with their success either as now the most valuable corporate entity in the history of the planet ($700B).

 

I agree. What once was considered an inferior product produced from either Japan or China is now considered a high - if not highest - quality item. Apple being a superb example. So for me, as long as the quality is there I do not care where my Jag is made.

I will add - and I may have gotten it wrong (but I don't think so) - but when I attended a presentation last October at the monthly meeting of the Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving & Chowder Society from the Product Manager of the F-Type there's no question that I got the impression that he took a certain amount of pride that US-bound F-Type's were 100% British built (and he was American). That and/or the members of the MASCDCS - 50-75 (at that meeting) of the biggest, richest, most knowledgable, gear-heads you can conjure up - cared that it was British-made. That at least was my impression.

 

While I agree with you about the federal regulations etc, I'm not sure that's the reason the XE introduction into North America is being delayed. My own sense is that Jaguar is mainly just choosing to focus and prioritize other markets, and as I said in the earlier post I think it's a mistake.

 

Not my point. "Made in China"/"Made in Alabama", not quite the same cache as "Made in Germany". Agreed, not much cache left in "Made in Great Britain", but that's the car's heritage and worth holding onto.