She has told the network: “Let people drive our cars, because every customer ownership survey tells us our customers love them.”
More than 680 representatives of the worldwide sales network have pledged support for a plan aimed at repositioning the brand for a smaller, more focussed role in luxury premium segments, AM can reveal.
Regional marketing meetings staged in Spain, north America, Australia and Tokyo heard Boerio spell out the way ahead for the Ford subsidiary, which made heavy losses last year.
“We’ve been honest with our dealers and told them that, in many ways, the future of Jaguar lies in their hands,” she says.
“We have used the launch of our new XK model to show them our vision for the future and the building blocks we intend to use on the way.
“I’m delighted with their enthusiasm. They have made it clear they are with us for the long term and are happy to see that we’re fighting for Jaguar’s brand strengths,” says Boerio.
Speaking at the Tokyo motor show after the final dealer meeting, she added: “We know there is a better balance for the brand between the X-type, S-type and XJ and it is very clear that we tried to push X-type too hard, too fast.
“A smaller, more focussed Jaguar is where we’re headed. The history of our company is based on the fact that people buy cars for emotional reasons, but over the last five years, we forgot that. Our move now is to bring back that emotion, along with the glamour and sophistication that makes this brand unique.”
Boerio, who expects sales to be as much as 25% down this year on the 120,000 total achieved in 2004, believes the challenge facing the company is to offer contemporary choices that could be built with low complexity.
She is asking dealers to keep the Jaguar heritage in mind: “Sir William Lyons always provided cars that were daring, different and contemporary and that’s what this strategy is all about.”
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