Jaguar in the United States is poised to launch an advertising campaign specifically targeted at gay consumers, according to a story in today's <I>Detroit News</I>. This follows a Ford study which pointed to the need for new strategies for selling to 14 million gay US consumers who have an estimated £281m in purchasing power.
Yesterday's 8.4 per cent pay increase for Mini workers at Oxford has upped the ante in this year's automotive industry pay round – putting strike-threatened Peugeot and Jaguar under pressure to offer more.
More than 1200 Jaguar workers in the UK are to be balloted over strike action this week. The members of the Amicus union are dissatisfied with the company's recent pay offer. The postal ballot opens today and will close on January 6.
The threat of industrial action looms at Jaguar today after unions called a mass meeting of workers. Staff at the luxury car maker's Halewood, Whitley, Browns Lane and Castle Bromwich sites have already rejected the carmaker's 2002 pay offer and unions will tomorrow hold mass meetings to inform workers that it intends to launch industrial action.
Jaguar is on the way to solving its global aftermarket back order situation, according to one supplier.
Jaguar's £50m F-type sports car project has not been scrapped, according to company insiders. They insist it is on hold and will be revived when parent company Ford's finances improve.
The Guy Salmon Bodyshop in Coventry has become one of the first crash repair businesses in the UK to be appointed a category A repairer for the predominantly aluminium Jaguar XJ, due to be launched next spring.<
New D-sector entrants like the Jaguar X-type have encouraged Honda to move the next generation Accord, on UK sale early next year, upmarket.
Jaguar has enjoyed significant growth in recent years after widening its model range with the X-type. Global sales exceeded 100,000 last year, broadening awareness in the brand.
Ford-owned Jaguar and Land Rover have announced plans to axe 800 jobs at their UK plants, despite both marques increasing sales. The firms, which employ about 11,000 staff each, expect to achieve the losses through early retirement and voluntary redundancy.
Jaguar snobs got sniffy about the introduction of the X-type last year. They thought its size and £22,000 starting price opened the door uncomfortably wide to the common motorist, devaluing the brand and diluting the Jaguar experience.
A sweeping behind-the-scenes re-organisation has merged Jaguar and Land Rover's senior management functions under single directors, effectively making a single operating company.
The US car parts manufacturer which was named General Motors' worldwide supplier of the year 2002 has declined to comment on speculation that its European facilities are under threat after announcing the closure of one of its Scandinavian plants. Michigan based Collins & Aikman Corporation confirms it is to shut its operation in Hogsater, Sweden - which makes NVH components for Volvo and Jaguar cars.
Land Rover is expected to spin off its logistics division, which employs 770 staff, as part of an efficiency drive designed to secure future production at its Solihull plant. Ford, which owns the off-road specialist, needs assurances Land Rover can improve efficiency before guaranteeing production of future models. Jaguar underwent similar restructuring at its Castle Bromwich factory a few years ago.
Jaguar dealers will be denied the £30,000 F-type sportscar after the Coventry car-maker canned the model in favour of beefing-up its range of estates and diesels. The move will make the replacement for the XK8, due in autumn 2005, the earliest that Jaguar dealers will see a new sportscar capable of combating new models from BMW and Mercedes. The mid-engined two-seat F-type was aimed squarely at the Porsche Boxster and was due on sale in spring 2005.
Ambitious plans by Ford's Premier Automotive Group to maximise distribution efficiencies in Europe are unlikely to please everyone.The new Common PAG Brands Unit will lead to a network of multi-brand superdealers selling Volvos, Land Rovers and Jaguars - and maybe Aston Martins. National sales organisations for the brands could also be merged into a single PAG operation.
Makro, the international cash and carry wholesale chain, sold an undisclosed number of Jaguar X-types at five UK stores during February and March undercutting dealer list prices by £3500.
Jaguar will launch a face-lifted version of the S-type in March with a new 2.5-litre engine and improved 3.0-litre engine that sharply reduce CO2 emissions, boosting its appeal to fleets.
Jaguar has been awarded a National Training Award.
Ford is expected to announce today the creation of a single management board controlling Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin.
