Sunday, May 1, 2011

2011 Jaguar XJ - A Bold Move


An ad at the back of the back of the recent issue of 'The Atlantic', read “The 2011 XJ, The stunning result of taking a very different road”.  There was this rear three quarter photo of the new 2011 XJ. Wow! What a departure from its predecessor! The tag line made absolute sense.

At the launch of 2008 XJ, the Ford Motor Company’s Press Release read, “…The flagship of the Jaguar range benefits from visual changes….An all-new, distinctive design for the XJ’s front gives the 2008 model an unmistakably purposeful appearance, a look complemented by the new side power vents, lower body sills and a subtle rear aero spoiler….and so on”. The 2008 XJ looked not too different from its predecessor. Other than few "purposeful" tweaks to the front fascia, the 2008 XJ had the same stance, same wheelbase, same silhouette etc. as the previous generation XJ. Do not get me wrong, I liked that signature styling. With each model year, the styling progressively evolved. However, the design language at the core remained the same.


 






However, the 2011 XJ took a real leap, a Jag leap. The silhouette is "swoopy". You rarely see a fastback luxury sedan. Aaron Robinson calls it a "cab-rearward design" in the Car and Driver’s review. Yes, the C-pillar looks stretched far into the deck. This is a significant change to XJ’s silhouette – moving away from a long, slender deck line, which btw closely resembled the silhouette of jaguar (metaphor), to, a high belt line, fastback design with a very short deck line. I think this increases the visual mass towards the rear of the car, at least in the side view. May be that was the styling intent. 

I am interested in finding out the impact of such fresh, new styling direction on the brand equity of established brands, in this case, a Jaguar.