Turbo2

I remember this car being launched about 10 years ago. It was Jag's first attempt at mass-market with a 4WD Mondeo floorpan. There were plenty around, but it then just seemed to disappear off the radar a few years ago and as far as I can tell, they never replaced it with anything.

It's very unusual to develop a new car/market and then just walk away from it a few years later, without replacement. Did they even consider a successor? Anyone know what happened? Was it because Ford sold Jaguar off? Were they actually built at Ford plants?

I am sure the "Other Marques" élite will know the answers.

rabbos

I think they just made the most of the ford empire's parts bin whilst they had the chance.

Matteeboy

It was crap. Not many people bought it. They stopped making it.

moneys

iTrader: (5)

When the car was launched it was best in class, it was the first 4 wheel drive car for Jag and the drive was brilliant, however, where they messed up was the engines, they predominatly aimed for the American market and only had 2 engine choices, the 2.5 and 3ltr petrol models, now there was nothing wrong with these engines, the problem however happened in the September after the launch, 9 11 happened and the American market fell through the floor.

The company would never listen to us workers in meetings when we told them they needed a diesel and a smaller engine, they told us Jaguars dont do diesels. In the end they decided Jaguars do need diesels and they produced both the 2ltr diesel and petrol models, they also did it in front wheel drive and reduced the price down to 20k. They then also brought out the 2.2 diesel engine and the estate model. These changes did increase sales for a while (the car never dropped below 50k a year) but it was to late to recover the car as they never facelifted it. (most car have a 3 year life before facelifted in someway).

One of the main reasons the x-type never took off was because of Fords marketing, yes the floor was shared with the mondeo, however, people dont mention the fact that the mondeo was a class leader for years and was also described as one of the best handling cars of its generation and still is. The underbody of any car is where the most money is spent in design as its the strength of the car, vw share their platforms with skoda and audi, loads of companies do it but what they do diffently is they dont mention it to everyone.

The main reason for the car not re-launching itself and still going strong today was that ford was in serious trouble financialy, it decided to stop investing in the other brands under its umbrella and tried to save the 'blue oval' (they did it and they came out the reccssion much stronger than most other motor companies). The yhad been trying for years to get rid of Jaguar as they couldnt make any of it work, the cars where good but the middle management messed it all up (ford bosses may i add) , in the ned they threw Land rover is as part of the deal to sell jag and thats when TATA bought it, although the XF and XJ had already been penned and were going into build stages it was TATA that allowed more investment in R+R that has really pushed the brand forwards. Reliability is now getting much much better, freelander is best in class for this and all the cars in every range are now top of there class for dirvabilty and build quality. Even the x-type towards then last few years was one of the best on warrantly claims.

The future is very bright for the brand and there is talk of a replacement for the x-type, however we will just have to wait and see. what does annoy me though is how people dont get behind a manufacturer when it does well and they are built in this country, yet everyone raves about toyota and the like (ive just bought a RX lexus only cos i couldnt afford a rr sport though) . Its the dealer network that lets down a lot of our brands as they just dont care, people have problems with other cars but because the dealers look after them no-one minds, ive just had my lexus in for a fix yet the service was great so i dont moan about it. One of my friends went to buy a jag when the x-type first came out, he got a bmw instead as he described the dealer as 'a ford dealer but with nice carpets' not the experiance you want if your paying 20k+ on a car

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Enjoyed that write up Moneys.

douglasb

The X-type was built at Halewood (on the outskirts of Liverpool, near the airport). That plant is now building the new small Range Rover.

stilover

For me the X-Type fail in design. Same as the S-Type.

They looked like old man cars, so why would anyone chose an X/S Type over the equivilant Audi/BMW?

They didn't, as sales prove.

For me the XF is a breath of fresh air for Jaguar (Not so sure about the new XJ though) a fresh stylish design that still says "Jaguar" but is stylish enough for people not to think it's aimed at people over 60.

I'd buy an XF, and would have an XFR over an M5 or RS6 anyday.

Jaguar need a stylish alternative to Audi's A4 and BMW 3 series. An A3/1 series rival would be nice too.

Edit to add.

The XK is a very desirable car too. Would love an XKR.

moneys

iTrader: (5)

this was also another one of the issues, instead of looking at what people where actually buying and why, they did surveys with current owners and asked what they would want, their reply was 'the same'. this is what went wrong with the styling, when the car was launched we also asked questions of why there was no coupe or sport car to take on the likes of bmw and audi, their reply was that the design of the underbody would cost too much, our reply 'well go nick one from volvo? They refusedd to listen to us as the Ford group dont like listening to the 'workers' after all what do we know!!

When i had a scoob it was tuned to near 300bhp, i managed to drive the XF before it was launched and i swear that that car would of left my scoob for dead on both the straight and also the corners, it is a truly magnificent car to drive and its ability will astound anyone who has the pleasure of driving it.

Jaguar has finally succumbed to the 21st century and my god its doing it well. All of the cars are class leaders, only the other day i read a report that the XJ is a better buy than the Porsche Panarama, its also quicker, yes a super saloon is faster than a porsche.

I know personally that the next few years are going to be very exciting for Jaguar and ive a feeling what they have in the pipeline will make them a motor company to be reckoned with, TATA have made a massive difference to this brand, i dont care if there foreign or not, its the way manufacturing has gone unfortunatly. What i do know is that they know how to run a company and they are proving a lot of doubters wrong

moneys

iTrader: (5)

We build bo the Freelander



and we have just started to build the new Range Rover Evoque



and yes its as good as the same as the above prototype picture, in fact in the fleash id say its better, the prices and spec of this are brilliant as well. Will be getting the wife one next year when they come out hopefully

brickboy

My boss had a 3.0SE for a few years. I drove it quite a bit. It handled and rode well but I wasn't impressed with the engine and drivetrain.

It never felt like a 200bhp+ car to me, even with the slushbox in 'Sport' mode. It was fine when it was rolling above 75mph but for A-road overtaking, I felt I had to manually select a lower gear because the gearbox couldn't seem to work out what gear it needed to be in. There was also a lot of slop in the transmission.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

X-type to me was a bit of a nothing car, its not a bad car, but its nothing fantastic either. I drove a few and it just felt like a lardy Rover with a bit more poke. S-type was the same. It felt almost Korean, hell, given what Kia make these days I'm wondering if Kia could do better if they made a similar car to target that market.

I'm not sure why but I think someone at Jaguar at the time thought that squidgy over assisted brake pedals and detached handling dynamics were the norm, because the car just never felt focused. Even my old mans old 1982 XJ-S had a firmer brake pedal and more feedback through the front suspension (despite the feather-light steering and extra body weight). I think its this detachment that puts me off. Also the ergonomics of the switch gear and heater/radio controls just felt wrong IMO, I couldn't just put my finger to a required button and press it without looking, there was no tactile feel, so I had to take my eyes off the road to look at what I was pressing. Very few other cars of this class are like this IMO (iDrive excepted).

I think Jaguar are going in the right direction these days, but it still has some way to go. It designs are still compromised and lack forward thinking (XF should be a hatchback like the 5series GT or Skoda Superb...just look at the fastback roofline - its deisgned for it). Not everyone wants to fit a set a golf clubs in the back. Some might want to stick in a few plants from the garden centre, or god forbid, an all-terrain pushchair! The XF does not cater for this. As such has ruled out a large market segment.

Same with manual gearboxes for its "R" varients. Stick in a big engine, supercharge it, and give it lower and firmer suspension. Then offer it with a slushbox. Not everyone wants automatic, at least give the buyer that option, even if it is a minority. BMW do.

I think if Jaguar start catering for those niche buyers as well as the mass market, it may win some well deserved praise. After all, its those niche buyers who are the most enthusiastic and picky on cars....and usually the most vocal about it too (i.e motoring press).

I still think the RD6 concept with a few adjustments and despite being seven years old now is still a very viable design to replace the X-type.