Article- Jaguar Continues to Fail in US Market
#21
I purchased my Jag XJ on a whim. I was driving a 2014 Buick LaCrosse P1 and was looking at trading for the 2017 when it was released.
One day I saw two new Jag XJ's on the road and thought what a nice looking car. I knew about Jaguar and had liked the looks of the XJ but had never considered one because I had also heard about reliability issues.
I went to the dealership just out of curiosity and as my preference was a black car I was thinking that when I did trade I would get a different color.
The dealer had a 2014 and a 2015 XJ neither were black. They had several XJL's most of which were black.
On the show room floor was a 2014 XJ Rohdium Silver that caught my eye as being very striking. As it was July and the 2016 would be coming out soon the car was greatly reduced in price.
After looking the car over I took it for a test drive. The car met my needs and appealed to me more than the 2017 LaCrosse would have. I did not care that the car was a year old, the fact that it was brand new, 11 miles , never test driven and was on sale for a price that I could not resist, I traded the LaCrosse on the spot.
The dealer had 5 new 2014 Black XJL's on the lot, several 2015's and 1 2015 XJ. At least at my dealership these cars seem to sale but they are very slow sellers. The dealer now still has 4 2014 Black XJL's on the lot.
One day I saw two new Jag XJ's on the road and thought what a nice looking car. I knew about Jaguar and had liked the looks of the XJ but had never considered one because I had also heard about reliability issues.
I went to the dealership just out of curiosity and as my preference was a black car I was thinking that when I did trade I would get a different color.
The dealer had a 2014 and a 2015 XJ neither were black. They had several XJL's most of which were black.
On the show room floor was a 2014 XJ Rohdium Silver that caught my eye as being very striking. As it was July and the 2016 would be coming out soon the car was greatly reduced in price.
After looking the car over I took it for a test drive. The car met my needs and appealed to me more than the 2017 LaCrosse would have. I did not care that the car was a year old, the fact that it was brand new, 11 miles , never test driven and was on sale for a price that I could not resist, I traded the LaCrosse on the spot.
The dealer had 5 new 2014 Black XJL's on the lot, several 2015's and 1 2015 XJ. At least at my dealership these cars seem to sale but they are very slow sellers. The dealer now still has 4 2014 Black XJL's on the lot.
#22
The way things are looking they may have a couple of 2015's on the lot this summer.
Allot of dealers have for whatever the case run into the same delima.
Last edited by MHT; 01-01-2016 at 04:57 PM.
#23
My point being they are not selling a lot of cars. Yes you probably got a good deal on the car. Do you know when the warranty started on your car? Do not be surprised if the car had already been reported as sold, meaning the warranty has already started.
#24
As I was the first purchaser, the warranty started on my car at the time I purchased it. I also have the one year free maintenance.
Seven months and 3500 miles and so far unlike my last car it has not been back to the dealer for service.
I have owned some real nice cars and so far this is one of the best.
Last edited by MHT; 01-01-2016 at 05:18 PM.
#25
I have two theory's as to why Jaguar sales are down:
Theory #1: Jaguar has done a great job in the design of the new generation Jaguars. BUT, the available OEM options for performance and trim packages are extemely lacking and bland. From this, younger buyers aren't getting excited. The Mercedes and BMW sites have a different feel when you are "Building Your Own" as the OEM exterior and interior trim level choices and options are wide. For BMW, you can add anything from M body kit upgrades to M stripe packages, and the color choices and interior trim choices are broad. For Mercedes, you can add anything from AMG body kit upgrades to the special designo package which adds special luxury leather trim, exterior paint trim choices, and wood themes. When Jaguar launched the XE last year, I remember going onto the "Build Your Own" and there were like a few color choices and only 3 interior cloth color choices -- nothing else -- BOOOOORING. Why would Jaguar do this at a new vehicle launch? They must know that right after a launch, a bunch of people are going to do a "Build Your Own" type thing on-line, but then get turned off that all of the "Build Your Own" choices are limited. I get that Jaguar has the Portfolio edition, but this doesn't have anything to do with what younger buyers want. Why can't Jaguar tap more into their racing heritage or even their former TWR partnership to develop and offer such performance packages and then Market the heck out of it?
Theory #2: Building on #1, Jaguar needs to add more focus on developing it's after market performance bits accessories, to where it pulls on the heart strings and appeals to younger buyers. Alloy wheel accessories & mesh grill accessories are not enough. Again, tap big time into Jaguar's legendary racing heritage. Offer things like TWR body stripe packages and flared rim upgrades. Do whatever. Just do more of it and Market the heck out of it.
To summarize, I think Jaguar has so much opportunity to tap into and educate younger buyers about their legendary motor racing heritage. They need to exploit such legendary heritage to develop and offer special performance kits and packages. They need to Market the heck out of it.
I bet most young buyers know what M and AMG are. But, many probably don't realize Jaguar's great racing heritage as well as the fantastic leMans wins and the 1980's and 1990's partnership with TWR. That is unfortunate.
Theory #1: Jaguar has done a great job in the design of the new generation Jaguars. BUT, the available OEM options for performance and trim packages are extemely lacking and bland. From this, younger buyers aren't getting excited. The Mercedes and BMW sites have a different feel when you are "Building Your Own" as the OEM exterior and interior trim level choices and options are wide. For BMW, you can add anything from M body kit upgrades to M stripe packages, and the color choices and interior trim choices are broad. For Mercedes, you can add anything from AMG body kit upgrades to the special designo package which adds special luxury leather trim, exterior paint trim choices, and wood themes. When Jaguar launched the XE last year, I remember going onto the "Build Your Own" and there were like a few color choices and only 3 interior cloth color choices -- nothing else -- BOOOOORING. Why would Jaguar do this at a new vehicle launch? They must know that right after a launch, a bunch of people are going to do a "Build Your Own" type thing on-line, but then get turned off that all of the "Build Your Own" choices are limited. I get that Jaguar has the Portfolio edition, but this doesn't have anything to do with what younger buyers want. Why can't Jaguar tap more into their racing heritage or even their former TWR partnership to develop and offer such performance packages and then Market the heck out of it?
Theory #2: Building on #1, Jaguar needs to add more focus on developing it's after market performance bits accessories, to where it pulls on the heart strings and appeals to younger buyers. Alloy wheel accessories & mesh grill accessories are not enough. Again, tap big time into Jaguar's legendary racing heritage. Offer things like TWR body stripe packages and flared rim upgrades. Do whatever. Just do more of it and Market the heck out of it.
To summarize, I think Jaguar has so much opportunity to tap into and educate younger buyers about their legendary motor racing heritage. They need to exploit such legendary heritage to develop and offer special performance kits and packages. They need to Market the heck out of it.
I bet most young buyers know what M and AMG are. But, many probably don't realize Jaguar's great racing heritage as well as the fantastic leMans wins and the 1980's and 1990's partnership with TWR. That is unfortunate.
Last edited by BrownRobin; 01-01-2016 at 06:54 PM.
#26
I have two theory's as to why Jaguar sales are down:
Theory #1: Jaguar has done a great job in the design of the new generation Jaguars. BUT, the available OEM options for performance and trim packages are extemely lacking and bland. From this, younger buyers aren't getting excited. The Mercedes and BMW sites have a different feel when you are "Building Your Own" as the OEM exterior and interior trim level choices and options are wide. For BMW, you can add anything from M body kit upgrades to M stripe packages, and the color choices and interior trim choices are broad. For Mercedes, you can add anything from AMG body kit upgrades to the special designo package which adds special luxury leather trim, exterior paint trim choices, and wood themes. When Jaguar launched the XE last year, I remember going onto the "Build Your Own" and there were like a few color choices and only 3 interior cloth color choices -- nothing else -- BOOOOORING. Why would Jaguar do this at a new vehicle launch? They must know that right after a launch, a bunch of people are going to do a "Build Your Own" type thing on-line, but then get turned off that all of the "Build Your Own" choices are limited. I get that Jaguar has the Portfolio edition, but this doesn't have anything to do with what younger buyers want. Why can't Jaguar tap more into their racing heritage or even their former TWR partnership to develop and offer such performance packages and then Market the heck out of it?
Theory #2: Building on #1, Jaguar needs to add more focus on developing it's after market performance bits accessories, to where it pulls on the heart strings and appeals to younger buyers. Alloy wheel accessories & mesh grill accessories are not enough. Again, tap big time into Jaguar's legendary racing heritage. Offer things like TWR body stripe packages and flared rim upgrades. Do whatever. Just do more of it and Market the heck out of it.
To summarize, I think Jaguar has so much opportunity to tap into and educate younger buyers about their legendary motor racing heritage. They need to exploit such legendary heritage to develop and offer special performance kits and packages. They need to Market the heck out of it.
I bet most young buyers know what M and AMG are. But, many probably don't realize Jaguar's great racing heritage as well as the fantastic leMans wins and the 1980's and 1990's partnership with TWR. That is unfortunate.
Theory #1: Jaguar has done a great job in the design of the new generation Jaguars. BUT, the available OEM options for performance and trim packages are extemely lacking and bland. From this, younger buyers aren't getting excited. The Mercedes and BMW sites have a different feel when you are "Building Your Own" as the OEM exterior and interior trim level choices and options are wide. For BMW, you can add anything from M body kit upgrades to M stripe packages, and the color choices and interior trim choices are broad. For Mercedes, you can add anything from AMG body kit upgrades to the special designo package which adds special luxury leather trim, exterior paint trim choices, and wood themes. When Jaguar launched the XE last year, I remember going onto the "Build Your Own" and there were like a few color choices and only 3 interior cloth color choices -- nothing else -- BOOOOORING. Why would Jaguar do this at a new vehicle launch? They must know that right after a launch, a bunch of people are going to do a "Build Your Own" type thing on-line, but then get turned off that all of the "Build Your Own" choices are limited. I get that Jaguar has the Portfolio edition, but this doesn't have anything to do with what younger buyers want. Why can't Jaguar tap more into their racing heritage or even their former TWR partnership to develop and offer such performance packages and then Market the heck out of it?
Theory #2: Building on #1, Jaguar needs to add more focus on developing it's after market performance bits accessories, to where it pulls on the heart strings and appeals to younger buyers. Alloy wheel accessories & mesh grill accessories are not enough. Again, tap big time into Jaguar's legendary racing heritage. Offer things like TWR body stripe packages and flared rim upgrades. Do whatever. Just do more of it and Market the heck out of it.
To summarize, I think Jaguar has so much opportunity to tap into and educate younger buyers about their legendary motor racing heritage. They need to exploit such legendary heritage to develop and offer special performance kits and packages. They need to Market the heck out of it.
I bet most young buyers know what M and AMG are. But, many probably don't realize Jaguar's great racing heritage as well as the fantastic leMans wins and the 1980's and 1990's partnership with TWR. That is unfortunate.
#27
I agree jaguar is not selling allot of cars. I guess that can be both good and bad depending on how you look at it.
As I was the first purchaser, the warranty started on my car at the time I purchased it. I also have the one year free maintenance.
Seven months and 3500 miles and so far unlike my last car it has not been back to the dealer for service.
I have owned some real nice cars and so far this is one of the best.
As I was the first purchaser, the warranty started on my car at the time I purchased it. I also have the one year free maintenance.
Seven months and 3500 miles and so far unlike my last car it has not been back to the dealer for service.
I have owned some real nice cars and so far this is one of the best.
#28
#29
The fact that you are the first purchaser has nothing to do with the warranty start date. The odds are the car was probably punched long ago. These cars are known as ghosts. This is a common practice to show higher sales numbers. You should simply call your dealers service department & have them run your vin in DDW. They will need the last 6 digits of the vin.
#30
i would strongly suggest you verify the "in service date". That may not be the date you purchased your car. If that car was in inventory that long the dealer may have already reported it. You can verify the date by checking with your service department, not sales.
#31
You make it sound like Jaguar operates under different rules, if that is the case, thanks for the heads up. I will look into it this the next time I am at the dealership.
The dealership has been good in the past and I really have no reason not to trust the sales person. I believe in this state it would be illegal for a dealership not to disclose that a car is not under full warranty or to do anything different from what is stated on the manufacture window sticker on the car.
#32
The dealer received the car in inventory Sept. 2014, I purchased the car brand new 11 miles July 2015. The dealership had the car for 10 months. There is no doubt in my mind that it does not carry the full warranty of 4 years /50,000 miles.
You make it sound like Jaguar operates under different rules, if that is the case, thanks for the heads up.
You make it sound like Jaguar operates under different rules, if that is the case, thanks for the heads up.
As an aside, I just bought a 4 year/75K warranty for my XJ from Tom Wood on Thursday. The finance guy informed me that original warranty status of the car had no bearing on the pricing/coverage status of the car for new warranty I bought (even though some posters claimed that the warranty had to be extended before 30 days before the original warranty expired). So I'm good until 2020 for that car. With the extension, if you do happen to extend the warranty, it will trigger from your date, not the dealer date.
#33
MHT, are you at the Tom Wood dealership in Indy? When I bought my XF there, it sat on the lot for around 14 months by the time I bought it in November 2010. My 6 year/100K warranty started from the date I bought the vehicle, not from the moment it arrived at the Tom Wood lot.
As an aside, I just bought a 4 year/75K warranty for my XJ from Tom Wood on Thursday. The finance guy informed me that original warranty status of the car had no bearing on the pricing/coverage status of the car for new warranty I bought (even though some posters claimed that the warranty had to be extended before 30 days before the original warranty expired). So I'm good until 2020 for that car. With the extension, if you do happen to extend the warranty, it will trigger from your date, not the dealer date.
As an aside, I just bought a 4 year/75K warranty for my XJ from Tom Wood on Thursday. The finance guy informed me that original warranty status of the car had no bearing on the pricing/coverage status of the car for new warranty I bought (even though some posters claimed that the warranty had to be extended before 30 days before the original warranty expired). So I'm good until 2020 for that car. With the extension, if you do happen to extend the warranty, it will trigger from your date, not the dealer date.
#34
MHT, are you at the Tom Wood dealership in Indy? When I bought my XF there, it sat on the lot for around 14 months by the time I bought it in November 2010. My 6 year/100K warranty started from the date I bought the vehicle, not from the moment it arrived at the Tom Wood lot.
As an aside, I just bought a 4 year/75K warranty for my XJ from Tom Wood on Thursday. The finance guy informed me that original warranty status of the car had no bearing on the pricing/coverage status of the car for new warranty I bought (even though some posters claimed that the warranty had to be extended before 30 days before the original warranty expired). So I'm good until 2020 for that car. With the extension, if you do happen to extend the warranty, it will trigger from your date, not the dealer date.
As an aside, I just bought a 4 year/75K warranty for my XJ from Tom Wood on Thursday. The finance guy informed me that original warranty status of the car had no bearing on the pricing/coverage status of the car for new warranty I bought (even though some posters claimed that the warranty had to be extended before 30 days before the original warranty expired). So I'm good until 2020 for that car. With the extension, if you do happen to extend the warranty, it will trigger from your date, not the dealer date.
The warranty started the day I purchased the car. I have purchased allot of cars and I have never ever seen anything any different.
Maybe this is not the case in all states but my car has the full warranty.
I have never purchased an extended warranty.
#35
Yes, I brought up time in inventory to let the person who replied to me know that the dealership had not had the car for a year.
The warranty started the day I purchased the car. I have purchased allot of cars and I have never ever seen anything any different.
Maybe this is not the case in all states but my car has the full warranty.
I have never purchased an extended warranty.
The warranty started the day I purchased the car. I have purchased allot of cars and I have never ever seen anything any different.
Maybe this is not the case in all states but my car has the full warranty.
I have never purchased an extended warranty.
#36
This has nothing to do with what state you are in. It has to do with cars being reported to show higher sales numbers. A common occurrence with Jaguar dealers. These cars are known as ghosts. I am only suggesting you verify with your service department the in service date. I know how hard it was to find a car for myself when a special program was offered as most of the cars had been punched. This is my last post on this as all I am trying to do is have you double check with you service department.
The warranty expires 5 months prior to my actual date of purchase. In other words instead of expiring July,2019 as I thought, it will expire Feb, 2019.
You were right about everything the ghost sale, in service date the whole ball of wax. I am ok with it to a degree as I will more and likely trade for another Jag way before 2019 but it is just the idea of not being told up front.
I do not blame nor hold anything against the sells person as I do not believe he knew. There are allot of articles on this matter that just as some people believes, states that the warranty starts at purchase by owner but as you pointed out and I now know that in some cases that is far from the truth.
I am curious as to how a dealesrhip is able to do this (ghost sells)
Last edited by MHT; 01-07-2016 at 05:39 PM.
#37
I think that what hurts Jaguar is the lack of a lower priced models. Mercedes has those C class and sub C class models that sell in Honda Accord price territory. BMW has always had the smaller 3 series and now a smaller model. Cadillac has the WRX and ATS series which hit a lower price point which will help with bringing in younger buyers. I think the F Pace will bring in a lot of buyers as big sedans are just not that popular any more. American manufacturers are having trouble selling their every day sedans and they are much cheaper than anything at the Jaguar dealer. SUVs and CUVs are flying out the door. Porsche was criticized for bringing out the Cayenne and the Panamera sedan but these are extremely popular in the SF Bay Area. It's nice to have an exclusive car but it leads to lack of sales and threatens the survival of the manufacturer. I'm not in the first time buyer ( as in new car) Jaguar demographic but I wonder if a "speedster" style F series could be delivered at a lower price to expand sales with younger buyers. Maybe a normally aspirated V6, regular manual transmission, and with less content? New Corvettes are pretty popular around here also and I don't see many being driven by people under 50 years old. I would hate to see Jaguar go out of business.
#38
#39
An interesting point in regard to not many corvettes being driven by people under 50, and whether Jaguar could go out of business in the future.
As an automotive brand I can't foresee Jaguar going out of business although it's vehicle sales numbers will never equal or surpass M-B or BMW, but that's ok. TATA Motors appears to be investing appropriate resources into Jaguar and Range/Land Rover and is working to increase it sales via new model lines. A funny thing when I was in my 20's I would never have owned a corvette; that's why I went the route of owning the '73 and '76 "Datsun Z" cars. Now I'm in my 60's and seriously considering buying a new corvette; and, I would not think of ever owning again a "Nissan Z" car. Don't know if this means anything other than maybe your values and financial resources change as you get older.
As an automotive brand I can't foresee Jaguar going out of business although it's vehicle sales numbers will never equal or surpass M-B or BMW, but that's ok. TATA Motors appears to be investing appropriate resources into Jaguar and Range/Land Rover and is working to increase it sales via new model lines. A funny thing when I was in my 20's I would never have owned a corvette; that's why I went the route of owning the '73 and '76 "Datsun Z" cars. Now I'm in my 60's and seriously considering buying a new corvette; and, I would not think of ever owning again a "Nissan Z" car. Don't know if this means anything other than maybe your values and financial resources change as you get older.
#40
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Mooresville, NC (Race City USA), home of most NASCAR teams.
Posts: 1,818
Received 481 Likes
on
368 Posts
I think Jags biggest problem right now is that all the sedans look the same... Some common language needs to be shared but I challenge anyone who can tell an XE from XF. They need to be a little more distinctive. Lastly, the XJ always had quad head lamps. They were so popular that Mercedes, Lexus, even Bentley copied them. The next generation XJ needs to have similar styling (head light wise) as Bentley Mussulane. Take a look:
Lastly, the new interiors of the XE, XF, F-pace are too generic and no longer unique. I would rather have BMW, AUDI, Mercedes interior in every one those segments over the Jag. Supreme agility and driving dynamics win magazine shootouts. But comfort, design, good materials sell cars in the luxury car segment. This especially more important in today's crowded market of "near-luxury" cars.
Lastly, the new interiors of the XE, XF, F-pace are too generic and no longer unique. I would rather have BMW, AUDI, Mercedes interior in every one those segments over the Jag. Supreme agility and driving dynamics win magazine shootouts. But comfort, design, good materials sell cars in the luxury car segment. This especially more important in today's crowded market of "near-luxury" cars.