At the launch of Jaguar XE on Oct. 22, two men talked passionately about the iconic premium British car brand.
Jag lover Wellington “Willie” Soong remembers having pooled his lifelong savings to be able to bag the coveted Jaguar franchise in the Philippines in 1996. By that time, he had had nine Jaguars in his garage. It was a difficult period for Willie and for Jaguar in Manila. “It was the most challenging period in terms of introducing the brand in the market. The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis made matters worse. Thank goodness, I survived,” Willie winces now of the experience. Still, 20 years and more than 800 Jaguars sold later, Willie speaks with passion and dreamy trance about the legendary cat.
Willie begins his third decade with Jaguar with the launch of the XE, the third level Jaguar and what could be the best selling Jaguar ever and for him, the best-selling brand in his stable of luxury car brands which include the Ferrari and Maserati. The XE is supposed to be the best-designed, the best-equipped and the best-accessorized Jaguar ever.
For United Kingdom ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad, his Jaguar experience is “deeply personal.” As a student and as a junior civil servant, he had always dreamed of owning a Jaguar. “But how many civil servants could afford to buy a Jaguar?” he asked rhetorically.
As luck would have it, Ahmad, an INSEAD alumnus and a former banker, became the director of trade and investments for Asia of the British prime minister, from 2004 to 2008.
In that capacity, the envoy’s happy task was to look for investors, around the world, who could revitalize Jaguar after Ford of USA apparently failed to make it profitable. One reason for that was the failure of the X-type launched as a Jaguar but which was actually a dressed up Ford Mondeo. “Jaguar was a proud British brand, engineered in the Midlands but which has fallen into difficult times,” recalls Ahmad with an understatement.
After Ahmad’s many trips to India, the Tata Group bought Jaguar. To celebrate the deal, Ahmad bought his first Jaguar, a 2004 X type. “The Tata Group did something astounding with Jaguar,” exclaims the envoy. “They felt the car had to be reengineered, the range had to be updated. They took the most sacred of cars and redesigned it.” Ahmad was one of the people working hard to save Jaguar for what it is today.
The best was yet to come. In 2010, Ahmad became the UK ambassador to Thailand, his very first assignment. Sitting at Bangkok airport’s VIP gate was an old-fashioned British car with the British flag on it —a brand new Jaguar XJ, the brand’s top of the line supercar. He had designed the XJL from scratch—he chose the color, the trimming, the engine. “I designed my dream car!” he exclaimed.
In the entry-level XE, Ahmad told the launch audience, “you don’t have to wait like me, for years and years, to afford your first Jaguar. It is accessible to you.” “Your dream is in the Philippines. It’s here. It’s now,” he said.
“If you have never driven a Jaguar,” Ahmad cautioned, “you don’t drive a Jaguar. You wear a Jaguar. When you sit in the cockpit, the atmosphere envelops you. You go deeper into the car, unlike any other car. The steering is in front of you. The car rolls under you. You are in for a treat.”
“I hope you become great owners of Jaguar and share the same passion as I have,” said the genial warmhearted British ambassador.
“Jaguars have always been renowned for a balance of precise handling and a high-quality ride. The XE is the culmination of everything the company has learned over the years, providing a combination of supple ride and crisp handling that is unmatched in this segment,” said Mike Cross, Jaguar Chief Engineer of Vehicle Integrity.
The XE starts at P3.4 million for the 2-liter four-cylinder engine. A 3-liter V6 is coming and a diesel, too. About 75 percent aluminum with the balance of magnesium metal, the XE is claimed to be the aerodynamic Jag ever produced and probably the most beautiful. The XE is intended to steal the thunder out of the BMW 3 Series.
The new Jaguar XE has received a good press. Says Car and Driver Magazine:
“The chassis honors the mantra of Sir William Lyons—grace, pace, and space—with its crisp responses and refined manners. These are long-standing Jaguar strengths, made even more adroit with the two-mode electronically adjustable dampers that are standard on the S model. At an elevated clip, the XE smooths pavement and straightens corners with its suppleness and precision. Shod with the stickiest rubber on the menu—20-inch Pirelli P Zeros—the XE S recorded 0.96 g of lateral grip and stopped from 70 mph in 151 feet, well ahead of anything we’ve measured from its competition.”
“Jaguar wants its XE to be known as the driver’s car in its class, and that claim might go uncontested in the Old World, where the 3-series barely hangs on to its reputation.”
Gushes Autocar magazine:
“Jaguar has now launched a car that feels as good inside as the BMW, is virtually as accommodating and, crucially, is for the most part better to drive. Certainly, it excels over the other main players in this sector, the Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. In doing that, Jaguar has done what Lexus, Infiniti and others could not.”
Note: I never owned a Jaguar. In the course of many years, I have owned an old 4.7-liter Lexus Land Cruiser, a 2.5-liter BMW3 Series, two old 5-Series, a 3-liter diesel Land Rover, a couple of Honda CRVs, Civics, Mazda3s, and Toyota Corollas.
The best in reliability and cheapest to maintain are the Toyotas (Land Cruiser and Corollas), the best in driving experience (and the most expensive to maintain) are the BMs and the diesel Land Rover. In between are the Hondas although of late, they have not been as good. But the best value for the money and driving pleasure? The Mazda3, Euro version.
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