Jaguar’s cars tend to be sleek, powerful, and expensive, but are they classed as luxury cars?
Although they’re not as dramatically expensive as some competitor brands, Jaguar class themselves as a luxury car brand. There are many industry experts who support that claim. The cars themselves are considerably luxurious in both appearance and fittings.
Read on to learn more about Jaguar, their history, and the cars they produce.
Great Britain, Great Vehicles
While there aren’t many vehicle manufacturers to come out of Great Britain, those that do tend to be considered iconic.
You’ve got Mini, founded in 1959, the star of the 1969 movie, The Italian Job. There’s Aston Martin, the vehicle of choice for the legendary James Bond, big-screen spy extraordinaire.
There’s also Bentley and Rolls Royce, two of the most luxurious and sumptuous brands of car in the world. Their super high-end cars are the pinnacle of extravagance and wealth.
Also originating from Great Britain is one of the world’s leading supercar manufacturers – McLaren. They’re the driving force behind vehicles like the 540C, a two-hundred thousand dollar sports car.
However, one of the most storied brands to originate from Great Britain is Jaguar. They’re one of the oldest, having been founded in 1935 and working consistently for nearly a century to put their vehicles on the road.
Although the founders of Jaguar were actually motorcycle enthusiasts, they quickly began designing some considerably impressive cars. They had visions of luxurious vehicles; large, exuberant models that would turn heads.
Jaguar wasn’t actually called Jaguar from the beginning, but S.S. Cars Limited. Their first vehicle – revealed in 1935 – was named the SS Jaguar.
As the years wore on and World War II played out, S.S. Cars realized that might need to change their image. There was, of course, another SS in the world that had brought a sense of uncertainty and fear to the initials.
Therefore, they took the name of their first motor car and made it their title – Jaguar.
The Roaring Animal
Jaguar didn’t have exceptionally high sales in their early years, but they did have a great vision. They wanted to create world-class saloons that boasted power, luxury, and exclusivity.
Throughout the twentieth century, Jaguar was passed around a little from owner to owner. They dipped in and out of private ownership, before being bought by Ford in 1999.
However, it’s alleged that the Jaguar brand never profited while under Ford’s umbrella. Although their range was extended with prestigious new entries in the lineup, they weren’t massive sellers.
Since 2008, Jaguar has been owned by Tata Motors, an Indian conglomerate with many car brands within its portfolio.
It was around this time that Jaguar’s image changed a little. The cars they were producing became evermore sleek, powerful, and technologically advanced.
While they’d always been a luxurious brand, it was now that they started to look like a true competitor to modern brands coming out of Germany and Italy.
Within a few years, they’d revealed the E-Pace, a compact SUV, the F-Pace, a crossover SUV, and the I-Pace, an electric SUV. These cars bolstered their range and stood up against the competition that was Audi, BMW, and Mercedes.
In their saloon range was the Jaguar XE, XF, and XJ. While they weren’t by any means all new cars, they were upgraded to the hilt as years wore on.
The latter model has been in production for decades, since the late sixties. However, the ‘fourth-gen’ model was revealed in 2009, a year after it came under the ownership of Tata Motors.
Set the Scene, Don’t Break the Bank
While Jaguars might look impressive on the road, they’re actually not all that expensive to own. According to Jaguar’s own listings, their cheapest road car starts at just forty-thousand dollars.
The XE is their compact saloon, and it’s closely followed by the E-Pace, their compact SUV model. However, even the more high-end models aren’t going to break the bank.
For example, the I-Pace SUV, Jaguar’s first all-electric car, starts at around seventy-thousand dollars. It’s the pinnacle of Jaguar’s innovation but it retains a relatively low price.
The Mercedes Benz EQC, the German manufacturer’s offering, also starts at around seventy-thousand dollars. The all-electric SUV from BMW, the iX3, starts at around eighty-thousand.
So, if you want a combination of luxury, style, and reliability all at a low cost, Jaguar might just be the one to go for.