The changing face of Jaguar

This year is a period of rapid transition for Jaguar in Australia, and that transition will continue into next year and beyond.

The company has ended production of its XK sports car – the car that marked Jaguar's first faltering steps away from the retro styling theme introduced under Ford's ownership in the late 1990s. And the XF, which was developed from Ford funding but launched after the company's acquisition by Tata, is soon to be replaced by an all-new model.

Jaguar's latest model to arrive in Australia is the XE, a compact prestige sedan with Mercedes C-Class and BMW 3 Series in its sights. Officially on sale from September 1, the XE is yet to make any impact on VFACTS sales figures for Jaguar.

Those product movements have had some impact on the prestige brand's sales in Australia. For the year to date Jaguar has sold 524 cars for the year, versus 675 over the same period last year. The XF, in runout, is exactly 100 units behind its tally for 2014, and the XK is down to just five sales this year, compared with 61 for the first seven months of 2014.

Matthew Wiesner, Jaguar Land Rover Australia MD, put things in perspective when he spoke with motoring.com.au during the local launch of the XE this week.

"XK production finished... effectively ran out last year. So the last dribble of those finished in January/February. There might be a couple of dealer demonstrators, and that's it.

"We've nearly run out XF, so that will be very clean by the time the new model arrives. We've currently got F-TYPE and XJ [to sell]."

With the XE arriving on the scene, the larger XF can retire to its traditional market position, Wiesner says.

"What's happened with the current XF... is it kind of got dragged down to try and do a job at the top end of the XE's segment, which is kind of unfair for a car of that size...

"You're trying to create an opportunity; you're trying to draw people up [higher into the range].

"It means that we've got XE in its rightful space, we launch [the new] XF in a few months time – we bring the new XF into its rightful segment."

When queried as to whether the XF will be repositioned through price and specification mechanisms, Wiesner hinted that it may remain possible to purchase an XF below a certain price threshold ($80,000?) if the buyer is looking for more sheetmetal on a budget. That sort of car presumably wouldn't be heavily promoted and would not be the volume seller in the range.

"It doesn't mean XF won't be good value. It just means we'll be more traditional in its positioning. We still have to be mindful of how we present it – and the value of that car. And obviously we don't want to go chopping our legs off."

In other words, there's room for the XF's entry-level models near or just above the four-cylinder XE variants without drawing fire for the larger car being overpriced.

The short-term sales slump this year will turn around quickly, Wiesner predicts.

"By the end of the decade, we expect thereabouts Jaguar's volume to be roughly 30 to 35 per cent of the mix. That's because of the segments that we will enter with Jaguar, and it's not just suddenly expecting to triple sales in three years' time. It's about making sure we've got the right products in the right space in the right segments – that are actually growing and actually have some scale.

"The first one's here [XE]. That allows XF to kind of retreat back into its traditional space, against 5 Series, A6, E-Class and the like.

"The next significant move is obviously F-PACE. Given the constant trending growth of that SUV space, F-PACE brings us a whole new dynamic view of what that is, because of Jaguar's entry, whereas Land Rover's quite specific, Range Rover's role is quite specific.

"It doesn't stop there; there are other things coming later on that means we can really start to give some scale to what we're doing."

Those "other things" are not up for discussion at this stage. But it's rumoured that the XE sedan could spawn wagon and coupe versions, while Jaguar is already hard at work – according to the grapevine – on a smaller SUV than the F-PACE. It's claimed that this vehicle will be known as E-PACE, but Jaguar is yet to confirm its existence, let alone its name. Wiesner stuck to the script.

"No idea what you're talking about," he replied with a smile, when asked about a smaller SUV by that name.

"There are a number of interesting projects that are under consideration, and there'll be all sorts of speculation... popping up around the place."

The near future for Jaguar starts with XE, and if that car proves to be as popular as Jaguar hopes, any shortfall in sales this year so far could be well and truly offset by the demand for the smaller sedan before the end of 2015.

Jaguar's stocks will be further boosted by F-PACE when it arrives in 2016. Wiesner was not in a position to discuss sales projections for the new SUV. It's unexplored territory for the brand, better known for its luxury sedans and sports cars. 

"We're obviously looking at that pretty closely," Wiesner responded. "We've got a view of what we think is an opportunity for what you see in the marketplace today..."

That's based on how established SUVs like Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Porsche Macan are faring. It's difficult for JLR Australia to quantify how well the F-PACE will sell here, since the market segment is constantly evolving, and Wiesner sees an opportunity for the Jaguar SUV to take a "leadership" role against Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Porsche Macan.

"We're tossing a few scenarios around at the moment, because we've got some interesting drivetrains to play with, and it's a Jaguar, so we can really focus on... Jaguar's role as a dynamic driver's car..."

Wiesner suggests the prospective buyers for the F-PACE could be traditional SUV owners wanting to downsize, or from the other end of the spectrum, traditional passenger-car owners whose situation has changed and they now need something more practical – without seriously compromising their previous vehicle-purchasing criteria.

"This all comes down, I suppose, to the splintering of the ever-broadening niches that are appearing in our segmentation that you don't see in VFACTS...

"I think Porsche did a really good job with Macan in that context, Audi has been doing a really good job with Q5... SQ5 and that sort of thing."

Wiesner points out that demand for dynamic, performance SUVs with a prestige badge shows no sign of waning. In fact, there are buyers yet to enter the market, he says, and that's where product planning and marketing strategy for the F-PACE becomes "fun".

"You're trying to create answers for something that may not yet have a question."

Asked whether he was concerned the Jaguar SUV could snatch sales from similar Land Rover and Range Rover models, Wiesner had a come-back that was hard to refute.

"The point there is I'd rather we cannibalise ourselves than lose customers potentially to another brand," he explained.

"F-PACE will bring another dynamic SUV element to the group – very different to Land Rover, obviously.

"And if there is movement, from somebody who's currently driving a Land Rover or Range Rover – they want to try something different – we need to present other options than to lose them to a Porsche, or a BMW, or whatever it might be.

"I'd rather it stays in-house and manageable... than be in a position where we try and bring [the business] back from the Germans..."

That is yet another reason for the new initiative to have Land Rover dealers selling Jaguar models. Provided the dealerships are co-located, someone trading in his or her Range Rover on an F-PACE can just walk across the showroom, or even continue talking with the same salesperson.

"Internally, we need to get used to the fact that there will be movement in and around the brands that we have, but at the same time, at least it's manageable and we can keep talking to those customers, because they might go from an Evoque to a bigger Range Rover. And then, because their family situation has changed, they might end up in an F-PACE. Or they start in an XE and they end up in a Range Rover Sport.

"If that's an issue for us, that's fantastic."

Pictured: Computer-rendered image of Jaguar E-PACE