Is Jaguar Lost?

by Wallace Wyss –

It had such a great tradition. Started by Sir William Lyons before the war and the great XK120 came after the war. The C-type, the D-type and the victories at LeMans.

For a while it was the most stylish import on the American market. The cars movie stars like Clark Gable and Steve McQueen drove. But in recent years they stumbled.

Taken over by Ford for some time. Trying to find a niche in the market place, I would say the F-type had almost found a niche but was no longer ‘The Car To Own’.

Now some shocks, like suspending production of all models. And hints that their future role might be to become a more exclusive car company building cars only for the wealthiest, bespoke cars, in the manner that Roll-Royce does with their boatails but not that expensive, and Rolls by the way still builds regular production models. Even Cadillac with their $350,000 Celestiq, still makes regular production cars.

The New Jaguar Cat Logo

I can see with their rebranding campaign where Jaguar is heading toward the creme-de-la-creme market. Ferrari does it, coming out with limited SP editions, customized to a customer’s taste. But they still have regular catalog models. Ferrari is the most profitable car company per car.

Jaguar is itching to get into this exclusive zone but not reckoning with the reality of what’s gonna put food on the table while they are developing these speciales (to use the Italian word for exclusive models).

I have little faith in their new direction. One downer is the new YouTube video below. Watch this 30 second video and decide yourself.

It features a platoon of exceedingly grim-faced women, with nary a smile among them, wearing bright colors against rainbow-like backgrounds that’s very dated, very Sixties (Andy Warhol–where are you when we need you?). But there’s not a car visible anywhere. You wonder–who are these ladies and why are there no men in the commercial whatsoever? Or are there? It is difficult to tell. I prefer an ad with attractive people.

Secondly they redesigned the logo so it’s a mixture of capital letters and some lower case, within the word. How are we supposed to spell that when we write “Jaguar”? And they threw out the cat symbol but have a new one. That would be like Rolls throwing out the flying lady mascot.

I wouldn’t want to buy anything that the crowd, in that commercial, wants to make. When I think of a Jaguar customer I like to think of an upright chap in a herringbone suit jacket, sweater, slacks, Lobb shoes, stringback driving gloves and flat cap striding out to a sexy convertible that awaits him top down, and driving off into the countryside at a brisk pace with a lusty Varooom from the exhaust.

Based on what I have seen from Jaguar now, whatever they’re building, I don’t want it.

What we’re watching is a car company killed by a commercial…

New Jaguar Logo

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

THE AUTHOR Wallace Wyss started out in advertising where he wrote ads for two of the Big Three. He has owned a variety of sports cars from a 356 Porsche, to front engined and mid-engine Ferraris to a brace of Mercedes Gullwings.