The jaguar, like the lion and the tiger, is an extended member of the cat family, the big cat that is. The Jaguar as a luxury vehicle brand, on the other hand, used to be a big thing in the American market not too long ago.
Now it seems that British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover will be bringing back the cat fever soon in the US market with the expected unveiling of the 2017 Jaguar F-Pace SUV in the fall of 2016.
Jaguar will practically be threading on a new territory with its beefy crossover because it will be the first SUV in the company’s 80-year history.
It appears that the Jaguar Land Rover has some aces on its sleep and is quite confident that the 2017 F-Pace will be able to hold its own against numerous competitions in the SUV segment, particularly in the US.
It can be recalled that the reason why Jaguar was big in the US not too long ago because it was acquired by American carmaker Ford Motor Company. But in 2008, Ford sold its stake in Jaguar Land Rover for $2.3 billion to Indian industrial conglomerate Tata Motors after months of back-and-forth negotiations.
Jaguar is known more for its rich European sports car tradition featuring flashy, fast, and sleek-looking speedsters so the 2017 F-Pace is a major deviation from the company. Another ironic thing is that it is ambitiously looking to gain headway in the US market, which has the best and the sturdiest trucks and SUVs in the world.
Not only is Jaguar foraying into a completely new market, it is coming into a segment where all the world’s big guns in the automotive industry are trying to outperform one another.
Right off the bat, however, Jaguar’s entry to the SUV segment gives the brand a wider audience and bigger market too, which is the intention of the carmaker in the first place, notes Motor Trend.
A high-risk turnaround
Jaguar Land Rover unveiled the 2017 Jaguar F-Pace at the Frankfurt International Auto Show held last month along with its new XE sedan.
The 2017 F-Pace is meant to compete with the SUVs in the US while the Jaguar XE is designed to take on the BMW 3 Series and the Audi 4 both in Europe and the US.
Jaguar Land Rover is pinning its hopes on the two vehicles to make its turnaround in the US market and elsewhere, which motoring experts believe is an incredibly risky move notwithstanding that the worldwide economy is still reeling a bit while Britain’s automotive industry is still on its heels, details the Auto Blog.
As a matter of fact, despite the brand’s rich history and affluent tradition, Jaguar Land Rover has sold only 11,000 units in the US in the first nine months of 2015, which is down 5% for the same period in 2014. The carmaker is optimistic however that if Porsche can enter and capitalize on the American SUV market, it also can.
It’s a high-risk turnaround hope for Jaguar but the carmaker seems pretty confident that it has come up with an excellent SUV in the 2017 F-Pace that consumers would prefer, and a luxury sedan that can meet whatever competition can throw at it through the XE.
Sporty styling but distinctively Jaguar
The 2017 F-Pace greatly features a sporty styling that is distinctively Jaguar. It borrows design cues from the F-Type and its Range Rover cousin, but it clearly lacks the same level of off-road aspirations. The luxury crossover SUV is meant more for paved roads and will most likely have a difficult time if taken to off-road adventures.
The 2017 Jaguar F-Pace also exudes the rounded rectangular grille found on other models in the Jaguar lineup. Its headlights are really distinctive and extremely narrow when compared to the rest of the segment.
If it drives half as well as it looks, I’m going to buy the f-pace, and there will be a wait list for it.