Why the Jaguar Ford Marriage is a Good Thing

Whether you own, drive, or have an affinity for an older Jaguar (e.g. MK V), classics like the E-Type, or love your XJ-S or X300, they are all Jaguars. Now for some, comes the the controversial part. Keep in mind that these are my opinions, and, afterall, it is my web site so I can say what I like, can't I?!?

In my opinion, Jaguar would never have survived as an independent manufacturer if they had not been bought. Ford did so in 1989. As the old (American) sayings go, this is both "Water Under The Bridge" and that "The Proof Is In The Pudding". For proof to these statements, just look at the cars that Jaguar are producing today!

I am fortunate to have driven every post war engine that Jaguar have made. It is amazing how similar (for their times) all of them are, along with the non-quantitative and subjective "feel" of "Britishness" that each of these cars offers.

Say what you will, but Ford Motor is an excellent company. They are well managed, have excellent engineering, very good product quality control, and are a major force in the automotive global market. Just because a part was manufactured by FOMoCo and it winds up in a Jaguar does not mean that this is a bad thing. If you really are objective, I believe that actually it is a good thing. Here are my reasons and opinions why. Respectfully Consider:

a) Quality control of Jaguars in general in the past, but especially under BL. Those poorly made (but well designed and beautifully crafted) cars are now considered by most Jaguarians as classics today. Never mind the sub par gaskets, washers, hoses, and poor fit and finish problems--along with dreadful reliability (as built).

b) Current Jaguar products are at or near the top of the J.D. Powers Customer Survey. Considering that, even without the survetude to BL hanging over their heads in the '80s, or under our patron saint, Sir William Lyons before that, Jaguar couldn't ever break into the top 25 of this elite circle.

c) There are actually more than two models offered (with more on the way) for the first time in 15+ years. In fact for a time in 1980-1981, Jaguar didn't even sell the XJ-S (such irony as this was perhaps the car that saved the company.) Keeping this (lack of) models in mind, how much excitement can an auto maker have if you walk into the showroom and there are only one or two different cars to choose from? Almost all other manufacturers have at least a half dozen (or more) models/combinations to choose from. Now, so does Jaguar.

The great Lee Iaccoa once said that "The best car that you can possibly build", (followed by a reflective pause and a smile), "..is one people will BUY." Today, Jaguar are selling a LOT of cars--more so in their history. And, as a businessman myself, they are actually making a profit at it. That's what car manufacturers do and why they exist, as all businesses, namely, to sell cars that people will buy and make a profit. And in Jaguar's case (along with fellow elite stablemates of Aston Martin and Rover), to so so in a marketing way that distiguishes their products from the rest.

As enthusiasts, we lose sight of this very easily because we are routinely spending more money on our cars than they are financially worth. There are not too many other hobbies where this is not true! But car making is a business, not a hobby, and Jaguar (and parent Ford) have not the luxury of producing cars using old world, hand built techniques in this competitive high tech age.

Those on the Jag-Lovers.org XJ-S list that have really torn into their cars know that it's not the big stuff, but the little stuff that bogs you down. Like a vent servo that won't open, or door lock or hood (top) which goes up or down inconsistently, or antenna that won't retract. Jaguar cars does NOT make those parts. Most shudder when they learn that it is a Lucas ghost they have to contend with (yet again), so why is it a "bad thing" if its a Ford part instead?? Is dealing with a Lucas part preferable to a Ford component? I think not.

Personally, we've had Fords in our families for years, and generally speaking they have been good reliable cars. Locks and vents work, AC works. There were no electrical problems. In other words, they worked. So having a Ford switch, power window or antenna motor, or even major engine components is not a bad thing, but a good thing because they work.

In my view, and the view of the majority of economists, few companies can afford to do business as they did 20, 30--or 50 years ago. Jaguar must use state-of-the-art production techniques to lower production costs, raise profits, and increase quality. I have been to the factories at Brown's Lane, and especially at Castle Bromwich, where I, as a software engineer/architect, was totally amazed by the flawless just-in-time production techniques, and high use of robotics and automation used to make these latest Jaguars. There was no doubt in my mind that they (Jaguar) were producing a very high quality product-- even using Japanese made Hitachi robots to do so!

Lastly, and back to economics, Ford (and Jaguar) would be foolish to run both divisions as if the other did not exist. I believe (personally speaking) that Jaguars ought to continue to be built in Britain by the British. That's part of the aire of the Jaguar feel. It is a spirit that the product has that can not be replicated. But a well built or designed Ford part built in Cleveland (for example) can and should be integrated into Jaguars if it makes both economic and design "sense". Passengers in Jaguars don't feel or see (American or other made) cylinder blocks or window motors, but the overall end effect is the "Jaguar Experience". As I have written before, "You get there in other cars, but you arrive in a Jaguar." It's all about the feel of the Jaguar expereince. What the factory calls "Jaguar DNA", and what we enthusiast refer to as "Britishness".

That's what I still feel when driving my 1989 Jaguars. Even my 'old dinosaur' XJ-S has the same mirrors as a 1988 Jeep Wagonner, a Detroit made GM transmission, German Bosch Fuel injection, Italian Marelli ignition, and miscellaneous Japanese made semi conductors and parts.

So what's that some people are saying about Ford parts ruining Jaguar? The whole is grater than the sum of the parts. Very few companies know that better than Jaguar Cars, Coventry, England.

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