Jaguar 3 Series Rival to Be Design Leader
Jaguar needs to compete with volume kings like the BMW 3 Series to further its resurgence and the British brand will leverage sex appeal above all else.
“Design has got to be a benchmark,” said Jaguar North American CEO Andy Goss on the sidelines of the Chicago Auto Show. “We know the areas,” he said, but declined to go into specific detail about the car before emphasizing again that the Jaguar needs to set the design bar.
But just like bimbos in tight animal print pants often learn, looks alone can’t keep you floating long.
Jaguar is ready for that too, though.
“I think increasingly… if you want to compete with the Germans, if we’re going to live our true brand promise of actually having a car that’s very emotionally engaging, driving dynamics is really, really key,” Goss said.
Then again, that’s easier said than done. Makers often try and fail to recreate benchmark Bimmer driving dynamics. Lexus, for example, has long struggled to do that with the IS.
Key as driving dynamics will be for Jaguar, it won’t need to be the car’s main focus. Speculating about how a car that doesn’t exist will drive is silly, but Goss hinted at how brand engineers will think while building the German compact competitor.
“When you drive the F-Type, you’ll know all the work the engineers have put in there to make sure [it] really is a bonified true sports car,” Goss said. “Realistically, the same type of process will have to apply to a 3 Series [competitor].”
Sadly, he also said an M3 competitor isn’t likely.
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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The 3 is still the standard while Benz keeps attacking ineffectively with the C-Klasse. Kudos to Cadillac for aiming high with the ATS and best wishes to Jaguar. Lexus and Infiniti don't have a clue and Audi's FWD dynamics will never measure up although they try hard. Let's hope that the Jaguar design effort is a few notches better than the XF and XJ.