JAGUAR - rise and fall of an automotive star
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| Jaguar E-Type car |
The British luxury vehicle brand began its path under the name of Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922. It was only in 1945 that the brand decided to switch its name to Jaguar Cars Limited. From that moment on, it started making a name for itself thanks to some of their most popular models like the XK series and the E-Type especially, that revolutionized sports car design in the 1960s and managed to become a true icon of the decade. Moreover, winning the “Le Mans” race in 1951 and 1953, helped them to increase their popularity on a global scale.
Clearly, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Jaguar was among the stars in the car market, right after ultra-luxury cars like Rolls Royce and at the same level of Porsche.
One example? Jaguar E-type was Diabolik’s choice in the comics series, making it a “cult” for an entire generation. It was a synonym of
elegance and trust as well as cool and fast at the same time.
In 1966, Jaguar merged with “British Motor Corporation“ but the operation was unsuccessful as the two companies parted ways less than 10 years later. It was the first event that led Jaguar to its decline.
In 1989, Ford acquired Jaguar and Land Rover for $5.8 billion and invested $10 billion to bring the brand back to life but never managed to make a profit out of it.
Management was not able to keep up with the times and failed to invest in research which resulted in a decrease in the cars’ quality and consequently, to a loss of their competitiveness on the market. What Jaguar did instead was merely adapting to other manufacturer’s releases, following the market trends. Numbers could not be clearer: a single Mercedes SUV sold 48.000 cars in the US in 2019, 8000 more than all Jaguar models combined.
Ford finally sold Jaguar to Tata Motors together with Land Rover for $2.3 billion. This shows how much the brand has devalued in time as a result of management’s mistakes.
Later in 2019, JLR CEO Dr Ralph Speth admitted that the firm was going through a rough financial period, but said it was not for sale contrary to speculation. Speaking to AutoExpress, he said that companies such as Peugeot-Citroen and FCA have also experienced difficult situations in the past, and Jaguar Land Rover could buy these companies if they wanted to.
A brand repositioning in the luxury car world followed the events. Today, it is very uncommon to see the elite class owning a Jaguar vehicle. American customers perceive it as a car of yesterday and its audience is ageing.
To return to its splendour, it is pivotal that Jaguar re-evaluates the customer perception of the brand and strengthens its identity. It needs to limit its portfolio in order to serve the desired target audience and to reposition in the luxury sector. The luxurious values of the past should be perfectly blended with innovation and technology. Price needs to be revised as well considering that they are $20K higher than other luxury cars such as Mercedes and Audi and they must justify why customers should pay such a higher price.
Keep investing in celebrity endorsements and eye-catching advertisements could also represent a valuable asset for their image.
Dua Lipa features in a campaign for the Jaguar I-Pace car in 2018
If Jaguar successfully reaches a “resurrected star” position, it would be expected that it will become an influential car again and which will be seen parked in front of prestigious places around the world. Sales would boost and waiting lists to buy a Jaguar car might become a common practice. Customers will start identifying with the brand and the celebrities that own it which means that the brand image will vastly improve.
Jaguar currently ranks 37th out of 39 car brands in terms of public image in the US, hence, it is expected that it would climb back the ladder and regain its status back while keeping up with the times and working toward rejuvenation of its image.
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