So it has come to this -- a Jaguar station wagon. It's the first wagon in the history of this revered British automaker, which long has been known for sports cars and sleek luxury coupes and sedans.
Ford-owned Jaguar is offering the $36,330 wagon because it needs more sales to become profitable. The new model is called a "Sportwagon" because most automakers offering wagons don't want people to associate them with the wagons once offered by American automakers as bland family vehicles.
The Sportwagon drew stares from people who seemingly couldn't believe they were looking at a Jaguar station wagon during a recent media preview of the vehicle here. It's been sold in Europe for the past year and went on sale here in December.
Zooming for several hours in the Sportwagon on slippery two-lane mountain roads in cold temperatures and rain outside Palm Springs showed that its standard permanent all-wheel drive system helped allow it to handle demanding driving conditions in stride and comfort. The Sportwagon also fit right in when driven or parked when the sun came out in ritzy Palm Springs.
The Sportwagon is based on Jaguar's entry-level all-wheel-drive X-Type sedan, which has racked up sales of 100,000 units since being introduced here as a 2002 model.
The Sportwagon isn't just an X-Type sedan with a wagon rear end added. It's redesigned from the center roof pillars back with new rear doors, roof, body structure and additional rear quarter windows. It's meant to meet the needs of young growing families for good utility, along with stylishness and sporty driving.
The Sportwagon looks better than the sedan because it's larger and its elongated roof gives it more flowing, elegant styling typical of Jaguar. It shares the X-Type sedan's 106.7-inch wheelbase but is 185.5 inches long, compared with 183.9 inches for the sedan. The Sportwagon also is about two inches higher, at 58.4 inches, and its hoodline has a more muscular look.
There's a conventional tailgate with an independently opening rear window and 70-30 split-folding rear seat that flips forward without the need to remove headrests. The fully carpeted and trimmed cargo area is long, but somewhat shallow. Maximum cargo volume with both rear seats folded forward is pretty good, at 50 cubic feet.
The variable-ratio steering is quick, and handling is sharp. The ride is supple, and there's good high-speed stability with full loads. But one freeway area near here brought out excessive tire noise and a jerky ride.
The Sportwagon was remarkably quiet, despite a large open back area that often is noisy in wagons. Also construction was solid, with no characteristic wagon squeaks or rattles.
There's good room for four tall adults in the upscale interior, which has easily read gauges and decently sized sound system and climate controls -- but small front console cupholders.
The cargo area has a low, wide opening and roof rails are standard. There's a small storage area below the load floor with a 12-volt power supply to charge, say, a concealed laptop. Four spring-loaded chrome finished D-rings in the rear compartment provide a secure luggage tie-down facility.
A 227-horsepower dual-overhead-camshaft, 24-valve V-6 allows quick acceleration and tops horsepower in rival BMW, Mercedes and Audi wagons. The 3-liter V-6 works with a responsive five-speed automatic transmission or five-speed manual gearbox.
Most are expected to get the automatic transmission, but the manual is offered as a "no-cost" option because, after all, the Sportwagon is from sporty Jaguar.
The Sportwagon does 0-60 mph in 7.3 seconds with the automatic while delivering an estimated 18 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway.
Jaguar once had a good chunk of the luxury market to itself. But it now has problems including a far more competitive luxury market and an American-British currency situation that puts it at a price disadvantage.
"But Jaguar can't use the currency situation as an excuse because it's to be expected when you sell cars throughout the world, and one day it may work in our favor," said Tom Scarpello, Jaguar North American marketing vice president.
"Some Americans don't recognize our cars as being technically advanced and we may need a new marketing campaign to convince them that we're keeping up with the times," Scarpello said. "We use advanced aircraft-style aluminum construction for our top-line XJ sedans to save weight for better handling, acceleration and fuel economy, but some Americans mistakenly feel that a heavier car is a better car.
"We had to close one of our three plants in England to keep capacity in line with demand, and we've left the very expensive Formula One Grand Prix racing because most Americans don't pay much attention to it -- and we thus can't use it as a sales tool.
"Now that we have a wagon, will we develop a sport-utility vehicle? Porsche did well with one when it wasn't really expected to, but Ford owns Land Rover, which makes sport-utility vehicles and is part of its Premier Automotive Group, as are Jaguar, Volvo and Aston Martin."
Jaguar sales in America last year slipped to 45,875 cars from 54,665 units in 2003. Jaguar has abandoned its sales target of 200,000 cars a year in this country and may not make a profit for several years.
"Jaguar is suffering because luxury market competition has almost become ridiculous. Lexus, Acura and Infiniti luxury cars weren't even here less than 20 years ago, and Mercedes and BMW are stronger -- not to mention a revived Cadillac," said David Cole, chairman of Michigan's Center for Automotive Research.
"While the luxury market has been growing, there's a relatively limited number of luxury car buyers, compared with buyers of mass-market autos."
Cole said Jaguar's old reputation for spotty quality still lingers. That caused Jaguar of Canada President Vic Bernardini to wince at the preview.
"Respected independent surveys show marked quality improvements for Jaguar. It's also won IntelliChoice's 'Best Certified Pre-owned Luxury (car) Program' for four years in a row. We like that because we can turn owners of our pre-owned (used) cars into customers for new ones."
Another Jaguar problem: There's been a shift in the luxury market from sports cars and sedans to sport-utility and crossover vehicles, which blend attributes of smaller SUVs and cars.
The Sportwagon thus may help Jaguar because it fits into the crossover market, with good cargo capacity, all-wheel drive and Jaguar's traditional sleek styling and posh interior.
"Some people think Jaguar is an older person's car, although our top-line XJ sedans are fast with good handling and were redesigned with the aluminum construction for 2004," Jeff Key, program manager for the X-Type sedan and Sportwagon, said at the preview. "But some American luxury car buyers don't know -- or care -- about the XJ's advanced construction."
Jaguar sold 10,552 XJ sedans last year, against 10,102 in 2003 -- a rather disappointing showing for a radically redesigned auto.
However, Key said the X-Type sedan has drawn a good number of younger buyers, especially coveted by automakers, partly because it's the only "premium compact sedan" with standard permanent all-wheel drive.
"About 94 percent of X-Type model buyers have been new to the Jaguar brand, and more than 50 percent buy another Jaguar -- with 25 percent moving up to our larger, costlier models," Key said. (Jaguar sold 21,532 X-Type sedans in America last year, compared with 10,975 of the more costly S-Type mid-range sedan.)
The standard $34,330 X-Type sedan is well-equipped with comfort and convenience items, anti-lock brakes, front side and side curtain air bags, automatic temperature control, power sunroof and split-folding rear seat. The wagon shares those features.
Besides the Sportwagon, Jaguar is expanding the X-Type product range with a more aggressively styled $37,280 Sport version with such items as special spoilers, unique grille, sport seats and a sport-tuned suspension with high-performance tires.
There's also a posher new $38,080 VDP version with such items as burl walnut veneer trim, heated power seats with special leather and unique wheels.
Jaguar feels it must develop more new models to change its fortunes. For instance, the sexy but dated XK sports car will be replaced for 2006 by a new car using Jaguar's bonded aluminum XJ chassis. It will have a more sculpted look than the current curvaceous model.
For now, though, Jaguar is concentrating on making the X-Type more attractive -- and spreading the word about the advanced XJ sedan's features.
2005 JAGUAR SPORTWAGON
PRICE
$36,330
LIKES
Sleek. Roomy. Fast. All-wheel-drive grip. Well-equipped. Responsive automatic transmission.
DISLIKES
Occasional tire noise. Long but rather shallow cargo area. Small front cupholders. |