Jag fans begin petition to restart the F-Type project
Back in 2000, Ford Motor Company was swimming in SUV cash and Jaguar looked poised for a big-time turnaround. Excitement for the brand grew when the Concept F-Type was shown at the 2000 North American International Auto Show. Executive Wolfgang Reitzle even gave the project the green light and then pulled the plug due to a lack of funds. Fast-forward to 2007 and Jaguar has had the worst sales performance in the US of any luxury automaker over the past few years. In fact, Jaguar had the single largest decline in the US auto industry in 2006, with sales dropping by 31%. Only four years earlier Jaguar had US sales of 60,000 units which is three times what the classy cat gets now.
There are several reasons for this steep decline, and the absence of the F-Type in the Jaguar lineup probably isn't one of them. However, a group of enthusiasts over at JaguarMania are currently circulating a petition to put the F-Type back in Jaguar's plans. The Jag-fans maintain that the F-Type could compete with the Porsche Boxster in the luxury realm. It was a shame the F-Type never made production back in 2003, but the design now looks like a last-generation XK. We love new products as much as anyone, but in retrospect the Blue Oval bean counters probably got this one right the first time. An all new F-Type would be extremely favorable to us though, especially if it competes at the Boxster's price-point. The seven year-old design of the F-Type on the other hand would probably only contribute to Jaguar's problems.
[Source: CoolBrit.net]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ruggels 3:24PM (3/03/2007)
Given jag sales and the current fiscal health at ford... how to they propose to do this again? yeah the real world sucks don't it.
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Howard Kerr 3:31PM (3/03/2007)
I am not really a "fan" of the Jaguar brand, though I do admire most of their cars, what I think is killing Jag is the "sameness" of the cars. Each generation of XJ has been better than the one before it, yet they look SO MUCH alike, it's almost impossible to tell a '97 XJ from a '07 XJ. The "S type" has the same problem it's (formerly) sister car, the Lincoln LS had...not much visual "pow" after several years on the market. The "X"? Well, it's too bad Jag had to do it's smallest model on the cheap. Like all those former rental/fleet Tauruses clogging used car lots, we now see X-types littering used car lots (though I suspect that now many are headed to South america or third world countries).
I'm amazed Jag, according to this article, is ONLY selling about 20,000 cars.
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naggs 3:38PM (3/03/2007)
it would be nice to see jag compete against the boxter. the only way to seperate it from the xk would be to make it much smaller and sportier. by sportier i dont mean more hp, if it were done right it would have less. start with a manual transmission and a the suspension set up with corners in mind as opposed to ride comfort.
but jag has more important things to worry about right now. its right to focus its limited resources on new s-type and xj. when and if jags new design direction results in some cash flow jag can worry about a serious sportscar.
the name f-type carries a lot of responsiblity evoking some of the most beautiful cars of all time that were also very capable performance machines for their time.
do you think jag would go a seperate direction with this one model design wise? other brands are able to have individual models that break with the design language of the rest of the brand (chevy corvette, mitsu evo, VW new beatle) some cars are just so special that they cant be constrained by a corporate face and can only go their own way.
does jag want to make a clean break with the past or would the be willing to revisit it with the f-type later?
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Bryan 4:28PM (3/03/2007)
I like Jags a lot. However, Jag needs to fix the problems they have first, and they are. Something like this needs to come out once they have the S-type replacement out for a year or two. Make the helth of the company, then bring something extra out like this.
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Richard 4:49PM (3/03/2007)
I agree with the above comments re. Jag getting the cat box in order before pursuing a new GT.
When they do pursue a new coupe' - I hope that they remember and regain the performance/ price ratio that was part of the magic when the E-Type was introduced.
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Js 5:48PM (3/03/2007)
Personally I think it was such a shame they didnt build this, and went with the last gen XK. This F-type concept might have helped keep the cats head above water; maybe not in sales but in public opinion at least. In my opinion this car still looks better than today's XK (not that I think the XK is ugly mind you, this just has more of a Jag-look). Anyways, shame this wonderful piece of art just gets dropped into a museum.
Maybe they should make a limited run of these, like Aston did with the DB7 Zagato... Unfortunatly that would make them way to expensive for me to purchase one... but at least this great car won't go to waste..
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Matt 6:15PM (3/03/2007)
Jag is NOT building this. Perhaps we should learn to read articles before commenting on them, eh commenter number one?
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jack 6:20PM (3/03/2007)
Wouldn't this be a great car to bring Jag back to the earlier days when they made great looking, fast and affordable sports cars. Keep it light in weight, keep the complexity level down, focus on performance and keep it reasonably priced.
The world doesn't need yet another techno-luxury supercar.
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Anik 7:34PM (3/03/2007)
well.. i just wanted to say that looks like jag had reproduced with tvr. Yeah jag needs to learn to stop making so many concepts, and actually make real cars..
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ruggels 8:59PM (3/03/2007)
"Jag is NOT building this. Perhaps we should learn to read articles before commenting on them, eh commenter number one?"
Oh sorry, i'll include a [the petition starters] after 'they' next time, as the article, which i read both in summary form and on the linked site, pertain to people starting a... you know.. petition. But rest assured, i'll be ultra explicit for you next time Matt, asides and all!
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mr.ed 10:34PM (3/03/2007)
I'm sorry they won't build this classicly gorgeous ride. How about a little badge engineering? Start with a Miata...
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Andy 12:14AM (3/04/2007)
The Jaguar F-Type premiered in Detroit back in January 2000. It was an evolution of the XK180, a concept inspired by the D-Type, and adopted styling cues from the XJ13, a Le Mans prototype from the 1960s. It is unlikely a few hundred Jaguar fans (unlikely millionaires) will influence a corporate subsidiary to set aside tens of millions of dollars for R&D for a low-volume, premium-market cabriolet. Jaguar undertook development of the XJ220 with poor results. The hard sales for the Porsche Carrera GT and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren will only further the argument against production. Lamborghini came to the same conclusion with the Miura. Seeing as the present-day XK is now competing with top Euro marques on the street and the track, Jaguar won't take the effort to blow money it doesn't have on a project that will lose it money.
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naggs 12:29AM (3/04/2007)
"The hard sales for the Porsche Carrera GT and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren will only further the argument against production."
the SLR isnt meeting sales expectations but the CGT was a hit, big money maker for porsche
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Lee Roy Brandon III 12:32AM (3/04/2007)
So I was there in Frankfurt in '99 when the XK 180 was shown, and I wish this car were built... no rationale, no regard for capitalism, just sheer, wanton, adulation.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog&pop=1&ping=1
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HotRodzNKustoms 12:36AM (3/04/2007)
a good product they could do on the cheap I believe would be a rebodied and luxed up Miata with E type looks, an aluminum body, and keep the miata's world class characteristics, maybe inject it with a blower for some more Jaguar-i-ness.
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Brackie 12:55AM (3/04/2007)
A jaguar should be all about sex..probably more than any other brand out there. They have single handedly squandered one of the most sexy brands out there..Its a complete anathema to me considereing Aston has been so well managed. MEMO to FORD..cars need replacing every 4 years now! Thats why the Japanese do so well...The days of designs lasting ten years or more are well gone....
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SilverAero 3:35PM (3/04/2007)
That f type is still good looking
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Justin 8:12AM (3/05/2007)
I agree with number 1. If a bunch of rich guys want their toys so bad, maybe they should just buy out Ford. In the real world when you're hemorrhaging money this is the last thing you need.
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akatsuki 11:03AM (3/08/2007)
Yeah, because the one thing that really sells cars is playing it safe and not having cars to get excited about. The new C-XF looks great, but the new S-type is so-so. Porsche seems to do just fine selling Caymans and Boxsters, so there is definitely a market for them. The problem with Ford is they would never actually create a car that is as competitive with the Porsche as it would need to be. It would need to be faster and better in every metric for them to have any real credibility.
I think they could easily have a new F-type (although maybe not this one) depending on whether the new S-type platform is good enough to be competitive (much like the G35 - 350Z platform sharing). Throw a beautiful chassis over it, keep it small enough that it doesn't hurt XK sales too much (although lose the now-Ford oval...) and I think a reasonable case could be made.
Jaguars problems are mostly product related. The S-type was a bloated whale, the XJ never provided any reason to buy a new one as it looked just like the one you already owned, and the XK was pretty but hung around too long, and the new one reminds who would buy one of the Taurus they grew up with and not the Jaguar heritage it was stolen from.
It doesn't really matter, Ford will throw a bunch of money at new platforms and then let them whither on the vine like they always do and then try another "turnaround" strategy.
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amp 1:44PM (3/05/2007)
I was just thinking about this car the other day. I couldn't quite remember what letter designation Jag gave it, but I just remembered that it looked stunning. Even though the concept's old, the style is just as gorgeous as it has ever been. I say build it.
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