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Forget failure. Expunge that word from your dictionary of Jaguar terms.
As Britain’s self-styled “sports car maker” moves from a patchy 15-year phase of Ford ownership into the welcoming arms of the giant Indian-based Tata group, it is also preparing to throw off the shackles of unprofitability and become the cool, successful maker of exclusive cars that it always promised to be.
That means plenty of new models: more coupés, more performance saloons and eventually that most elusive new Jag of all, the two-seat sports car.
With a fair wind, Jaguar will go close to breaking even this year; in 2009 it will start earning profits. While much of the world has been fixated on Jaguar’s battle to stay afloat, the management’s focus has been on devising a success plan, a way of earning sustainable profits in the long term.
Everything in this plan is under serious consideration and has been for many months, but deciding which Jaguars get the nod for production is a task for whatever management team Tata appoints.
The current management’s strategy has been tempered by the heat of Jaguar’s battle to survive, and it is a prototype for a profitable future operation making around 40,000-plus XFs and derivatives, 25,000 XKs (including offshoots) and 15,000 XJs.
The much-desired F-type sports car would then be the 10,000-a-year icing on the cake, and it could eventually push volume close to the magic 100,000 mark. Over to you, Mr. Tata.
Steve Cropley and Julian Rendell
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