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My first thought when I saw it was 'here comes a classic repositioning cock up'. Changing what you stand for means you risk losing your existing customers who liked you because you stood for something else.
If you also fail to attract the new customers you were after, you're double doomed.
It's not the sort of thing they might have done as an awareness campaign IMO. I think they made a mistake and realised it quite quickly.
I think Jaguar is a bit lost brand-wise. I don't know of many who've bought one recently and the ones I'm aware of have i/e/f-paces and don't seem like 'car people'.
The last car Jaguar made that appealed to me was the XK. Perhaps everybody wanting an 'SUV' has left manufacturers with no way to maintain a USP.
Edited by Manatee on 13/05/2025 at 15:50
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My first thought when I saw it was 'here comes a classic repositioning cock up'. Changing what you stand for means you risk losing your existing customers who liked you because you stood for something else.
If you also fail to attract the new customers you were after, you're double doomed.
It's not the sort of thing they might have done as an awareness campaign IMO. I think they made a mistake and realised it quite quickly.
I think Jaguar is a bit lost brand-wise. I don't know of many who've bought one recently and the ones I'm aware of have i/e/f-paces and don't seem like 'car people'.
The last car Jaguar made that appealed to me was the XK. Perhaps everybody wanting an 'SUV' has left manufacturers with no way to maintain a USP.
Jaguar was between a rock and a hard place - they needed a range of SUVs to compete with Macan & Cayenne but their partner in JLR was already dominant in SUVs.
I would have ensured that every dealer was both Range Rover and Jaguar on the same site and restrict Jaguar to saloons, coupes, estates and sports cars - no Jaguar SUVs
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Some brands could lose their way in the transition to EVs. 'Enthusiast' ones most of all.
BMW for example, whose strapline is 'the ultimate driving machine'. When all new cars are EVs, enthusiasts will be an endangered species.
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Some brands could lose their way in the transition to EVs. 'Enthusiast' ones most of all.
BMW for example, whose strapline is 'the ultimate driving machine'. When all new cars are EVs, enthusiasts will be an endangered species.
Why? EVs are great to drive.
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Some brands could lose their way in the transition to EVs. 'Enthusiast' ones most of all.
BMW for example, whose strapline is 'the ultimate driving machine'. When all new cars are EVs, enthusiasts will be an endangered species.
Why? EVs are great to drive.
I realise this is a matter of opinion but they have no character. Useful is not the same as interesting.
Having said that, ICE cars have become less interesting too - my hobby car is 8 years old and I have no interest in updating it when if the car that replaces it comes with stop start, lane keeping, autonomous braking, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and what not.
We boomers have had the best of it. The golden age of motoring lasted barely 50 years:)
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Some brands could lose their way in the transition to EVs. 'Enthusiast' ones most of all.
BMW for example, whose strapline is 'the ultimate driving machine'. When all new cars are EVs, enthusiasts will be an endangered species.
The primary purpose of cars is to transport people in comfort and safety. For decades, manufacturers have strived to make petrol 'executive' cars (and latterly diesel ones) as smooth, quiet and easy to drive as possible. Electric cars achieve these three things as a given.
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The primary purpose of cars is to transport people in comfort and safety. For decades, manufacturers have strived to make petrol 'executive' cars (and latterly diesel ones) as smooth, quiet and easy to drive as possible. Electric cars achieve these three things as a given.
A nice point. But where then is the differentiation when they all do that? BMW seems to have decided it's ludicrous styling. Tesla meanwhile has decided it is no styling at all.
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The primary purpose of cars is to transport people in comfort and safety. For decades, manufacturers have strived to make petrol 'executive' cars (and latterly diesel ones) as smooth, quiet and easy to drive as possible. Electric cars achieve these three things as a given.
Whilst removing the necessary skills and particularly observational ones from the muppet behind the wheel. Look around you on any journey.
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There used to be substantial differences between the good and bad, budget and expensive. Design mattered. Broadly - the deeper your pockets the better/nicer the motor.
It now makes little difference to the outcome whether you spend £20k on a small family hatch, or £100k on an executive toy - in real world driving:
- they get from A to B equally quickly
- they will both carry 4 or 5 + luggage - the £20k may even be more spacious
- they can both cover high mileages with limited driver stress
- the £20k will have most/all the unnecessary gizmos the exec had 10 years earlier
Premium brands with premium pricing are increasingly without real merit. Downsides - they cost more to insure and repair. They are possibly valued most by those with origins in the 1950/60s when brand and price actually made a difference.
Whether current generations hold BMW, Merc, Jag etc in such high esteem is debatable - the willingness of consumers to buy Chinese brands evidences a triumph of value for money over historic brand values.
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On the subject of odd designs there appears to be a very blurry copy of the MGZS for sale down to near identical specs and a lot uglier.
Gwm haval jolion pro.
Yuk
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JLR are suffering the same as all manufacturers, what is their USP?
Heritage? OK if you are over 50, what if you are 21?
Innovation? Imagine the day in the Jaguar boardroom the V12 decision was signed off.
Cars are now washing machines, they all do the same job.
Watch any EV review and barely any of it covers the driving aspect, because like washing machines they are all in essence the same.
So what makes a punter buy an AEG over a Beko? Crack that and JLR may have a future.
Edited by daveyjp on 16/05/2025 at 08:42
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the willingness of consumers to buy Chinese brands evidences a triumph of value for money over historic brand values
I am starting to see quite a few Omada & Jaecoo cars lately.
Cars are now like white goods. Most cars offer same features, in fact budget brands are more generous with features.
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JLR are suffering the same as all manufacturers, what is their USP?
Heritage? OK if you are over 50, what if you are 21?
Innovation? Imagine the day in the Jaguar boardroom the V12 decision was signed off.
Cars are now washing machines, they all do the same job.
Watch any EV review and barely any of it covers the driving aspect, because like washing machines they are all in essence the same.
So what makes a punter buy an AEG over a Beko? Crack that and JLR may have a future.
Not sure I'd agree that all EVs are the same.
However, on your washing machine analogy, you'd have to add in that your Beko would be repaired under warranty for three years and, after those three years, they'll take it away and let you have another one.
So why buy a more expensive car? Some of it is image and snobbery. A lot of it is comfort. Your basic car meets your needs, but it doesn't really give you any pleasure. A well appointed car can do that and a car with air suspension and more sound deadening, for example, is a much nicer place to be. Is it worth the premium? Probably not, but I think I'd have a different answer if I had a couple of million in the bank
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"Probably not, but I think I'd have a different answer if I had a couple of million in the bank".
Absolutely true. It would be a very 'top-end' Audi for me ...
... plus, you can't seem to haggle for a favourable (to oneself) deal these days like back in the day. I used to enjoy having three different dealers in various parts of the country chasing me to do the business with them. Unlikely to happen in today's marketplace so I've lost a lot of interest re: changing/upgrading.
RRP's and interest rates currently high, although I'm certain we will begin to see more 0% rates (after 30-50% deposit) emerging in there near future if/when the 'economy' tanks substantially.
The ticket price is always the starting-point for 'downward' negotiations in my view ...
:-)
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Premium brands with premium pricing are increasingly without real merit. Downsides - they cost more to insure and repair. They are possibly valued most by those with origins in the 1950/60s when brand and price actually made a difference.
Whether current generations hold BMW, Merc, Jag etc in such high esteem is debatable - the willingness of consumers to buy Chinese brands evidences a triumph of value for money over historic brand values.
I agree. Brands developed as an assurance of quality when goods generally were commoditised.
To some extent that still applies even though few people now think they are buying branded tea as an assurance that it has not been adulterated with black lead, iron oxide, or dried cow dung..
Inevitably the concept of brand has been subverted and we now see brands being traded and applied to otherwise non-distinctive product ("Pierre Cardin" must be the most prostituted brand ever) so it's wise not to trust brands without question.
And whereas brand value was built by quality, consistency and reliability, companies will now try to add value through 'brand advertising' (ads not directly linked to specific products), PR, product placement etc.
When quality is not in question, why would you buy a BMW over a Toyota of similar function? One answer is status (showing off) - in economics terms, this is as much a utility as anything else. That might still obtain for some. Another may be the amount spent by the brand owner to persuade consumers that its products are simply better in some unspecified way.
Procter & Gamble, and Unilever, didn't invent brand marketing but are considered to have developed it most in the 1950's and 60;s. They use brands to segment the market and grow their share. The whole premium vs. value brand thing is largely about psychology. Some people want the reassurance of a premium product, and heavy advertising can add value. Others just want functional value. Hence Ariel and Daz, which are essentially similar products at different price points. One of the extra benefits you are paying for with Ariel is a lot of advertising that tells you that you are buying the best. If you don't need the reassurance the Daz will get your clothes clean just the same.
Car manufacturers recognised that it is difficult to cover all segments with the same brand. If you sell Toyotas on value it's hard to imbue them with an image of luxury and prestige, hence Lexus.
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I generally agree, and even in their home market Toyota and Lexus play the rebadging game. It is a bit different with the export market. Apart from the North American market all Lexus is made in Japan. From experience there is a fairly substantial difference between a Corolla Saloon that left the Turkish factory to a similar sized Lexus saloon like our IS250. On the flip side the UK made Corolla is amazingly close to a Japanese made Lexus. Swings and roundabouts.
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