One of the world's leading automotive brand, Jaguar, is planning to launch a small and fuel efficient version of its flagship luxury car. The iconic model is a head turner with its suave and dynamic styling, along with the brand logo of the leaping Jaguar. The new compact model, affectionately called as Baby Jag, will be manufactured at the Castle Bromwich plant of Jaguar Land Rover based in UK. This manufacturing plant rolls out a major portion of the monthly yield of the Jaguar Land Rover and its parent company, Tata Motors. It is speculated that the new car will also offer an impressive fuel efficiency to its buyers. This move by the Jaguar is something that has not happened in the history of 91 years since its inception. The introduction of a compact Jaguar will mark the introduction of the brand in the small car segment.
The entry-level segment of cars has models with price tag ranging in the bracket of Rs. 19-28 lakh. This segment of luxury cars is currently ruled by the German trio of Mercedes, Audi and BMW. All three car makers from Germany sell 13-15 times as many cars as the Jaguar. However, with the launch of Baby Jag, Jaguar is hoping to be the fourth dominating player in this segment.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jaguar Land Rover, Ralf Speth, said, “We know our rivals have incredible design, incredible cars to drive and incredible strength. We must create something that can rival that, which means our product must be extraordinary.”
Co-deputy Editor-in-Chief, L'Automobile Magazine, Alexandra Legendre, quoted, “Jaguar is too small a manufacturer to expect high volumes in these segments, where competition is already so intense. The three German premium brands, before beginning to produce medium- and entry-level cars, already produced more than 500,000 cars a year each. Right now, Jaguar is not there yet.”
The Baby Jag is expected to be launched globally sometime during the third quarter of 2014. This new project of the car maker was conceptualised and has been in development since 2011. However, the car maker has hastened the development process and the smaller version of Jaguar is being tested extensively on the terrains of UK and Sweden.
