It's probably fair to say that the Jaguar X-type has not lived up to expectations, neither for its manufacturer nor for those of us here who have been living with it for the past year. Jaguar intended for its smallest and cheapest car to blow the brand open worldwide and to establish Jag as a true full-line automaker. Its low base price, standard four-wheel-drive system, and dank, tweedy charm would, it was hoped, double the brand's overall volume to 180,000 units. As of the 2002 sales report, Jaguar's volume is well off that mark. In fact, the shortfall is something like 50,000 cars, or more than Jag's North American sales total for 2001.
So what happened? Our experience with the X-type might provide some clues, even if it won't tell the whole story: There were simply some aspects of the car's marketplace performance beyond Jaguar's control. The economic environment in which the car was launched continues to be tough for all carmakers, but especially so for Jaguar, which delivered its most self-conscious and new-moniest car just as the Western world's all-night coke binge was grinding to a halt.
Still, a certain amount of blame for the car's problems rests with Jaguar. Although its sales actually have held up best in America, where luxury has become necessity, in other crucial markets such as mainland Europe, the X-type hasn't really caught on.... Read full article