Founded as the
Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, by two motorcycle enthusiasts,
William Lyons and
William Walmsley, the SS Jaguar name first appeared on a 2.5 litre
saloon in 1935. The Jaguar name was given to the entire company in 1945 when the SS was dropped due to lack of popularity from WWII
.
The distinctive "leaping Jaguar" mascot
Jaguar made its name in the 1950s with a series of elegantly-styled sports cars and luxury saloons. The company bought the
Daimler Motor Company (not to be confused with
Daimler-Benz), in 1960 from
Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). From the late 1960s, Daimler was used as a brand name for Jaguar's most luxurious saloons.
In 1984, Jaguar was floated off as a separate company on the stock market — one of the
Thatcher government's many
privatisations.
The Ford Motor Company made an offer to purchase the company in September 1989 which was adapted at an Extraordinary General Meeting in January 1990 and Jaguar was removed from the
London Stock Exchange listings on 28 February 1990.
[3] In 1999 it became part of Ford's new
Premier Automotive Group along with
Aston Martin,
Volvo Cars and, from 2000,
Land Rover;
Aston Martin was subsequently sold off in 2007. Between Ford purchasing Jaguar in 1989 and selling it in 2008 it did not earn any profit for the
Dearborn-based auto manufacturer.
Since
Land Rover's 2002 purchase by Ford, it has been closely associated with Jaguar. In many countries they share a common sales and distribution network (including shared dealerships), and some models now share components, although the only shared production facility is
Halewood, for the X-Type and the Freelander 2. However operationally the two companies were effectively integrated under a common management structure within Ford's PAG.
On 11 June 2007, Ford announced that it planned to sell Jaguar, along with Land Rover and retained the services of
Goldman Sachs,
Morgan Stanley and
HSBC to advise it on the deal. The sale was initially expected to be announced by September 2007, but was delayed until March 2008. Private equity firms such as
Alchemy Partners of the UK,
TPG Capital,
Ripplewood Holdings (which hired former Ford Europe executive
Sir Nick Scheele to head its bid),
Cerberus Capital Management and
One Equity Partners (owned by
JP Morgan Chase and managed by former Ford executive
Jacques Nasser) of the US,
Tata Motors of India and a consortium comprising
Mahindra and Mahindra (an auto manufacturer from India) and
Apollo Management all initially expressed interest in purchasing the
marques from the Ford Motor Company.
[4][5]
Before the sale was announced,
Anthony Bamford, chairman of British excavators manufacturer
JCB had expressed interest in purchasing the company in August 2006,
[6] but backed out when told the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy. On Christmas Eve of 2007, Mahindra and Mahindra backed out of the race for both brands, citing complexities in the deal.
[7]
On 1 January 2008, Ford made a formal announcement which declared Tata as the
preferred bidder.
[8]Tata Motors also received endorsements from the Transport And General Worker's Union (TGWU)-
Amicus[9] combine as well as from Ford.
[10] According to the rules of the auction process, this announcement would not automatically disqualify any other potential suitor. However, Ford (as well as representatives of
Unite) would now be able to enter into more focused and detailed discussions with Tata to iron out issues ranging from labour concerns (job security and pensions), technology (IT systems and engine production) and intellectual property,
[11] as well as the final sale price.
[12] Ford would also open its books for a more comprehensive due diligence by Tata.
[13] On 18 March 2008,
Reuters reported that American bankers
Citigroup and
JP Morgan shall be underwriting a loan of USD 3
billion in order to finance the deal.
[14]
On 26 March 2008, Ford announced that it had agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to
Tata Motors of India, and that the sale was expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2008.
[15] Included in the deal were the rights to three other British brands, Jaguar's own
Daimler, as well as two dormant brands
Lanchester and
Rover.
[16] On 2 June 2008 the sale to Tata was completed by both parties
[1] [17]
The Swallow Sidecar company was originally located in
Blackpool but moved to Holbrook Lane,
Coventry in 1928 when demand for the
Austin Swallow became too great for the factory's capacity.
[18] In 1951, having outgrown the original Coventry site they moved again to Browns Lane which had been a wartime "shadow factory" run by the
Daimler Motor Company. Today, Jaguars are assembled at
Castle Bromwich in
Birmingham and
Halewood in
Liverpool. The historic
Browns Lane plant ceased trim and final operations in 2005, the x350
XJ having already moved to Castle Bromwich two years prior, leaving the
XK and
S-Type production to Castle Bromwich and the
X-Type at Halewood, alongside the new Land Rover Freelander 2, from 2007. A reduced Browns Lane site still operates today producing veneers for Jaguar Land Rover and others, as well as some engineering facilities.
1939 SS 3-1/2 Litre Saloon
1950
Jaguar XK120 from the
Ralph Lauren collection
1958
Jaguar XK150 Roadster
A 1963
E-Type Roadster on display in
Indianapolis
Jaguar Mark II 3,4-Litre Saloon 1966
A 1968
Jaguar 340 small saloon
A 1968
Jaguar 420 sports saloon
1985
Jaguar XJ-S with V-12 engine
The Jaguar company started production with the pre-war 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 litre models which used engines designed by the
Standard Motor Company. The 1.5 litre four-cylinder engine was still supplied by Standard but the two larger six-cylinder ones were made in house. These cars have become known unofficially as Mark IVs.
The first post war model was the 1948 Mark V available with either 2.5 or 3.5 litre engines and had a more streamlined appearance than pre-war models, but more important was the change to independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes.
The big breakthrough was the launch in 1948 of the XK120 sports car, with the new XK twin
overhead camshaft (DOHC) 3.5 litre
hemi-head six-cylinder engine designed by
William Heynes,
Walter Hassan and Claude Baily. This engine had been designed during the long nights during the war when they would be on fire watch in the factory. After several attempts a final design was arrived at. That is until owner William Lyons said "make it quieter". The car had originally been intended as a short production model of about 200 vehicles as a test bed for the new engine until its intended home, the new Mark VII saloon, was ready. The XK120's reception was such that production continued until 1954; it was followed by the XK140, the XK150, and the E-Type, keeping Jaguar in the sports car market.
Introducing the large Mark VII saloon in 1951, a car especially conceived for the American market, Jaguar soon found itself overwhelmed with orders. The Mark VII and its successors gathered rave reviews from magazines such as
Road & Track and
The Motor. In 1956 a Mark VII won the prestigious
Monte Carlo Rally.
The 1955 Mark 1 small saloon was the first monocoque (unibody) car from Jaguar and used a 2.4 litre short stroke version of the XK engine. In 1959, the car was improved with a larger engine and wider windows and became the Mark 2, one of the most recognizable Jaguar models ever produced. It would be popular with British police forces for its small size, light weight, and powerful engine.
The Mark VIII of 1956 and Mark IX of 1958 were essentially updates of the Mark VII but the Mark X of 1961 was a completely new design of large saloon with all round independent suspension and unibody construction.
The independent rear suspension from the Mark X was incorporated in the 1963 S-Type which closely resembled the Mark 2, and in 1967 the Mark 2 name was dropped when the small saloon became the 240/340 range. The 420 of 1966, also sold as the Daimler Sovereign, put a new front onto the S-type, although both cars continued in parallel until the S-Type was dropped in 1968. The Mark X became the 420G in 1966.
Of the more recent saloons, the most significant is the
XJ (1968-present), still the definitive Jaguar saloon car for many. Since 1968 the Series I XJ has seen major changes in 1973 (to Series II), 1979 (Series III), 1986 Europe/1987 United States (XJ40), 1995 (X300), 1997 (to the V-8 powered X308), 2003 (the present model, X350). The most luxurious XJ models carry either the
Vanden Plas (US) or
Daimler (rest of world) nameplates.
The name is pronounced
/ˈdʒægjuːɚ/ "jag-u-ar" (except in North America where it is often pronounced
/ˈdʒægwɑr/ "jag-wahr") with the term "Jag" being used
colloquially.
Sports:
Compact & Medium Executive:
Large Executive:
Jaguar has designed in-house four generations of engines.
- Historical engines:
- Current engines:
The current Jaguar line-up includes the following models:
2008 Jaguar Model Line-up Model US Type Price Range Notes
XK Sports car/
Coupé/
Convertible £60,097 - £76,097 ($75,500 – $93,000)
XJ Full-size luxury sedan £43,642 - £60,252 ($64,250 – $116,000)
XF Sports car/
Sedan £33,900 - £54,900 ($49,975 - $62,975)
X-Type Entry level luxury sedan and
wagon £21,500 -£30,995 ($33,500 – $37,500)
Concept models
- Pirana (1967)
- XK180 (1998)
- F-type (2000) – Roadster, similar to the XK8 but smaller
- R-Coupé (2002) – Luxury four-seater coupé, closest competitor being the Bentley Continental GT
- Fuore XF 10 (2003)
- R-D6 (2003) – Compact four-seat coupé
- XK-RR – A high-performance version of last generation XK coupé
- XK-RS – Another performance-spec version of last generation XK convertible
- Concept Eight (2004) – Super-luxury version of the long-wheelbase model of the XJ
- C-XF (2007)
- C-XE (2010)
- C-XJ (2010)
Jaguar's motorsport history
See also: Jaguar Racing and Jaguar XJR Sportscars
The company has had major success in
sports car racing, particularly in the
Le Mans 24 Hours. Victories came in
1951 and
1953 with the
C-Type, then in
1955,
1956 and
1957 with the
D-Type. The manager of the racing team during this period,
Lofty England, later went on to become CEO of Jaguar in the early 1970s. Although the prototype
XJ13 was built in the mid-1960s it was never raced, and the famous race was then left for many years, until in the mid-1980s when
Tom Walkinshaw's
TWR team started designing and preparing Jaguar V12-engined sports prototypes for European sports car races. The team started winning regularly from 1987, and with increased factory backing the team won Le Mans in 1988 and 1990.
In the late 1990s, Ford decided that Jaguar would be the corporation's
Formula One entry. Ford bought out the semi-works
Stewart Grand Prix team and rebranded it as
Jaguar Racing. The Jaguar F1 program was not a success however, achieving only two podium finishes in five seasons of competition between
2000 and
2004. At the end of 2004, with costs mounting and Ford's profits dwindling, the F1 team was sold to
Red Bull energy drinks owner
Dietrich Mateschitz, and it became
Red Bull Racing. Since 2004 Jaguar has not had an official presence in motorsport.
Notable Jaguar sports racers:
Image gallery
1937 Jaguar SS 100
Jaguar 2½-Litre Drophead Coupé 1948
Jaguar Mark V Drophead Coupé
Jaguar Mark V Drophead Coupé 1950
Jaguar Mark V Saloon
Jaguar XK120
Jaguar XK120 Roadster
Jaguar XK120 Fixedhead Coupé 1954
Jaguar Saloon
Jaguar Saloon
Jaguar Mark VII Saloon 1954
Jaguar Mark VII Saloon 1955
Jaguar XK140 Drophead Coupé 1956
Jaguar XK150 Roadster
1963 Jaguar 3.4 Mark 2
Jaguar Saloon
1966 Jaguar E-Type (a.k.a. XKE)
Jaguar 420G Saloon 1968
Jaguar E-Type Fixed-head Coupé 1971
Jaguar XJ12 Saloon 1974
1991 Jaguar XJR-15
1992 Jaguar XJ220
1995 Jaguar XJ6 (Sovereign)
Jaguar XK8
References
- ^ a b "Tata Motors completes acquisition of Jag, Land Rover", Thomson Reuters (2 June 2008). Retrieved on 2 June 2008.
- ^ "The Royal Warrant Holders ' Association - Directory of Royal Warrant Holders". Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
- ^ "The Year 1989 to 1996". Jaguar Cars Ltd.. Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
- ^ "India's Tata confirms interest in Land Rover, Jaguar", AFX News Ltd. (24 August 2007). Retrieved on 18 December 2007.
- ^ Clark, Nick (4 January 2008). "Tata in pole position to buy Jaguar and Land Rover marques from Ford". Retrieved on 4 January 2008.
- ^ "JCB's Sir Anthony Bamford eyes Jaguar". Contract Journal (24 August 2006).
- ^ Doval, Pankaj (24 December 2007). "M&M out of Jaguar, Land Rover race", Times News Network. Retrieved on 24 December 2007.
- ^ Krisher, Tom (3 January 2008). "Indian Company Top Bidder for Jaguar", Associated Press. Retrieved on 4 January 2008.
- ^ "Tata set to clinch Jaguar-Land Rover deal: Report", Press Trust of India (20 December 2007). Retrieved on 20 December 2007.
- ^ "Ford set to pick Jaguar frontrunner in days: source", Reuters (17 December 2007). Retrieved on 18 December 2007.
- ^ Ghosh, Suprotip (3 January 2008). "Super car technology headed for Tata stable", Hindustan Times. Retrieved on 4 January 2008.
- ^ Leahy, Joe; Bernard Simon, Amy Yee (4 January 2008). "Tata falls for the attraction of opposites", Financial Times. Retrieved on 4 January 2008.
- ^ "Ball now in Tata Motors’ court to tie-up deal: Unite", CNBC TV-18 (3 January 2008). Retrieved on 4 January 2008.
- ^ "Tata gets $3 billion loan from Citi, JPMorgan: source", Reuters (18 March 2008). Retrieved on 18 March 2008.
- ^ Ford Motor Company (2008-03-26). "FORD MOTOR COMPANY ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT TO SELL JAGUAR LAND ROVER TO TATA MOTORS". Press release. Retrieved on 27 March 2008.
- ^ "5 for 2 special: Tata acquires 3 other British marques in Jaguar, Land Rover deal". Leftlane News (28 March 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
- ^ http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080630/FREE/940478590/1528/newsletter01
- ^ "Jaguar History". The Surrey Region Jaguar Enthusiasts Club.
