Luxury car brand Jaguar to go all-electric by 2025 (apnews.com)
Their sales aren’t the greatest right now…They need an edge. Good for them though.
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Yeah, them and Chevy. Of course, Chevrolet is doing this in their light passenger vehicles where they seem to have a steady decrease in sales. What have they got to lose?
Way back in 1961, while operating on a shoe string, Jaguar brought out the gorgeous and affordable XKE sportscar which competed with the Corvette Stingray and was the goal of every young adult. (Jan and Dean, “Dead Man’s Curve”)
Since then due to poor management and lack of investment it was acquired by British Leyland, went through a government forced merger into BMC, privatized by Thatcher, acquired by Ford and finally sold to Tata Motors of India, completely losing it’s mojo in the process.
Today when I think of Jaguar my immediate thought is an overpriced, unreliable, luxury Buick … certainly not the hot sports cars and sports sedans that made the brand so gas, electric, steam powered, who cares?
Just another formerly respected European brand name to slap on another a 3rd World manufacturer’s cars to try to gain instant credibility and avoid future buyer’s embarrassment in having to explain why they just spent $30,000 on a new Tata.
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Jaguar builds a sports car, the F-Type. It starts at about $62,000 and goes up to around $100,000 for a well optioned F-Type R with a 575 hp supercharge V8 with 516 #-ft of torque. Chevrolet builds the excellent Corvette, and also sells cars for less than $20,000. I don’t see how selling less expensive cars detracts from the Type R.
Not that I’d buy a Jaguar in the first place, but I don’t expect chargers to be common enough and fast enough to meet my needs where I drive even by 2025, so that would knock them off my shopping list.
A quote from a 1961 Car & Driver Road Test, “Jaguar may not be the best car of its class in the world, but it is incontestably the least expensive of the GOOD cars.” Tested: 1961 Jaguar E-type Proves Every Bit as Great as It Looks
It’s inconceivable now but imagine a time when a young adult, first job or several summers savings, could go to the dealer and afford to buy a car that Enrico Ferrari called “the most beautiful car in the world” and that was competitive on the track with Ferraris and you’ll understand the attraction and excitement of the XKE and Corvette Stingray.
My point is that while compared to the original E type, the current F type is a wonderful car and a technological wonder but they’re not the same car, not the same appeal and not the same market.
“Exciting, Sportscar”? No. “Nice, Comfortable, Luxurious”? Yes. May as well buy a SUV 
And between 1961 and about 20 years ago Jaguar went from a “Good” car to a completely horrible car. Reliability went up drastically when Ford bought them. They don’t meet my standard of a reliable vehicle.
Ford executives compared the worker’s attention to detail with what they’d seen at assembly pants in the USSR which got their attention. Jaguar’s been known for comfort but reliability hasn’t been in the equation for decades.
Neither in Fords.
Ford hasn’t been that bad at least from the owner’s i’ve known. But then my family won’t touch another Volvo or Chrysler product because of our experience with the brands.
I am on my 5th Ford product since 85. No serious reliability issues with any of them. The last 2 Mustangs have had no issues at all. Just maintenance. And modifications for fun!
I should let you talk to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. We gave their daughter our 1996 Honda Accord in 2007 when it had over 300k miles when she started college. It was far more reliable then their Taurus and F-150 pickup. They didn’t know what a good reliable vehicle was til then. They now both own Honda’s…and are so glad they switched…And I have many more stories similar to that one.
May not be the best but one co-worker had no problems with her 2002 Focus and If it hadn’t been totaled in a collision she would have kept it longer than 12yrs. The early 2000’s Focus wasn’t Ford’s finest hour either. The Volvo and the 88 Grand Voyager recalibrated what unreliable is for my family. After replacing every electronic component in the Grand Voyager things improved but the only real reason we didn’t cash-for-clunkers that beast is we didn’t think of it until arriving to pick up the new Prius. Also the program was on hold at the time.
The Honda CRV’s that dad’s owned since only have needed normal wear and service items. We did have our mechanic fix the differential noise common to '07 CRV’s but that was $90 out the door compared to spending thousands to get the Grand Voyager just to be somewhat reliable. Dad would only look at Honda or Toyota when he was new car shopping, he almost didn’t gat a new car last year but circled back and test drove a 2019 CRV Touring and while Honda hadn’t messed with what he liked about his 2007 they improved on all the things he didn’t such as the seats.
Mom’s 2010 Prius is one to avoid like the plague if you check car-complaints. Toyota’s done a bunch of recall work to it but she’s only had to have it serviced regularly and replace normal stuff like the Tires and 12V Battery. Her longtime shop checks the car over every 6,000mi and changes the oil but the only recent glitch was the tire pressor sensors failing, which happens to any modern car.
I’ve had three Fords since 1974, and none of them were all that good to us. A small sample to be sure, but the experiences soured me on the brand.
My '86 Taurus was–overall–one of the most reliable cars that I ever had (Only my '71 Charger was more reliable). Yes, the Taurus did have some “teething” problems at the beginning, with various sensors, but then it was clear sailing until I had to replace the heater core when it was 5 years old.
However, my next car–an Accord–was more reliable and more durable than the Taurus, and the 3 Outbacks that I have owned since the Accord are the most reliable and durable cars that I have ever owned.
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