I have been pretty good at predicting things relating to most car brands, including Jaguar, especially when people were still slamming the British marque and I forecast a sales’ recovery.
   But here’s one I didn’t get, though when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
   As we know, the X-type has been a relative flop for Jaguar and its design director Ian Callum finally reveals more of the background in the Financial Times:

Offering a rare insight into events at the British luxury carmaker following its purchase by Ford for $1.4bn in 1989, Mr Callum indicated that there had frequently been tensions in the relationship. He disclosed that, in spite of Jaguar management denials at the time, the X-Type small Jaguar—sales of which have fallen far below expectations—was essentially designed in Detroit and presented as close to a fait accompli to reluctant designers and engineers at Jaguar’s Whitley design centre, near the Midlands city of Coventry.

I never knew this: I was suckered in by the press reports that this was a British effort.
   But it makes complete sense. Ford is known for being less than competent on a number of its moves in Dearborn. The X-type is a pastiche of a Jaguar, which Jag itself was unlikely to create. You didn’t need a spiritual medium to tell you that it fell short of the Audi A4 and BMW 3-series in terms of desirability. And Callum’s predecessor, the late Geoff Lawson, said he wanted each Jaguar model to have a unique ‘face’—so why was the X-type a mini-XJ6 in looks? Now we know.
   When you think about it, the X-type platform could be a useful basis for a mid-sized Tata, though legally there are hurdles. Posted by Jack Yan, 21:47  permalink

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