Whenever we leave a job, it will be defined by the legacy we left. Hindsight is a fine thing and is the clearest view we can get on a direction that we took. Below are a few points I'd like to share regarding directions mistakenly taken by JLR regarding the Jaguar marque.
1) Trying to go it alone. Alfa Romeo is a brand that struggles but is surviving because the cost of developing models is shared within the Stellantis Group. Jaguar didn't have that luxury and the volumes weren't high enough to carry that burden alone.
The solution was to push volume up but anyone with a knowledge of traditional, conservative premium car buyers would know that they were never going to do that en masse. A totally flawed approach.
The only one that made sense was collaboration and the compromises that come with it. JLR didn't want to dilute Jaguar's DNA and I get that. But beggars can't be choosers.
2) Dumping the Electric XJ. The development cost had already been paid and if that was to be written off, then surely from that point on it would be profitable to produce. It would also be a positive flagship model for the marque.
Had it been an entry level model, then that wouldn't help its image going forward, as Jaguar made it move up market. However, this was a top of the range BEV Jaguar, an ideal model to take the marque where it was heading.
There were issues about the platform it was built on and here to build it but the reason given was it didn't fit the direction the band was heading. At a cost of nearly £500 million to develop, I would have found a way to make it happen.
3) A jump upmarket. I can see JLR was trying to put a distance between where Jaguar was and where it is going to be in the future. However, the best way to go upmarket is to do it incrementally. How could they do it in one step? By stopping production and then taking the giant leap into luxury after a sales hiatus.
What a flawed premise. The risks associated with this move were certainly not worth taking. A more measured and gradual approach was the only way to do this, but somehow JLR would pull it off.
4) Going fully electric. There is a saying about never putting all your eggs in one basket. JLR did just that and it's going to leave egg on some people's faces. It has been announced that low demand for luxury electric vehicles will now mean a delayed introduction of the two planned Jaguar EVs.
Will a delay achieve anything? Is there a sudden upturn expected soon? This high risk move upmarket into full electric has disaster written all over it. JLR has painted itself into a corner because the initial concept was risky and with no plan B. Failure was always the most likely outcome.
Summary: Jaguar is a marque that could have been managed so much better but those entrusted with its care have failed in their duty. The first rule of any undertaking is to do no harm. Then build on that. Bold moves have to succeed or else you end up failing big time. To me, how Jaguar has ended up is a disaster.
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