Jaguar heading towards the "one sausage, different lengths" approach to car design?

fmcg_scribe

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/new-jaguar-xf-due-2015/1315752

To be fair, over the years, some of Jaguar's rivals have often been accused of the same thing.

When the X-Type was in production, many people criticised it for looking like a "mini XJ", so perhaps JLR's plans for the new XE and XF have a precedent.

jimgoose

This is the way the game is played these days, has been for a long time. JLR's new aluminium monocoque "iQ" platform will support a few models, much like the Ford DEW98 platform underpinned the S-Type, the original 2008 XF and the American Lincoln LS and Ford Thunderbird models.

vibe666

who wouldn't mind a longer sausage?

fmcg_scribe

jimgoose wrote: »

This is the way the game is played these days, has been for a long time. JLR's new aluminium monocoque "iQ" platform will support a few models, much like the Ford DEW98 platform underpinned the S-Type, the original 2008 XF and the American Lincoln LS and Ford Thunderbird models.

Agreed. Many car makers are moving to two or three modular platforms for their model ranges. That said, it can be important to give each model and body style a defined purpose and perhaps a "personality"; otherwise, buyers tend to become confused about model ranges.

A few recent extreme examples involving sports cars come to mind:

Lotus's five year, five car plans were a fiasco:
http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/paris-motor-show-2010-lotus
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/30/lotus-shocks-paris-motor-show-with-five-concept-debuts/
http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/milestones-the-promise-of-new-lotus-sportscars-20140514-zrc5a.html
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/lotus/59421/lotus-drops-five-year-five-car-plan

Aston-Martin caused hassle for itself by launching the Virage and withdrawing it from sale within about two years of the launch:
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/04/aston-martin-virage-discontinued-after-short-lifespan/
http://www.leftlanenews.com/aston-martin-virage-discontinued-due-to-slow-sales.html
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/aston-martin-discontinues-virage/
http://www.aston-martin.com/2012/09/01/virage-now-officially-discontinued/

Porsche got a lot of flak about the first generation Cayman being in positioned (in terms of pricing and engines) between the Boxster and the 911. What saved the day (perhaps) is that the Cayman is regarded as a great drivers car.

More recently, McLaren got a lot of flak for launching the 650S between the MP4-12C and the P1 but in actual fact the 650S was an improved MP4-12C (and arguably the car that the MP4-12C should have been at launch), which killed orders for the MP4-12C and led to McLaren stopping production of the MP4-12C. The messy launch of the 650S has probably lowered the residuals of used MP4-12C cars considerably.