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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