Jaguar design boss admits X-Type was a mistake

[Ford_News]

Filed under: Sedan (http://www.autoblog.com/category/sedans/), Europe (http://www.autoblog.com/category/euro/), Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/), Jaguar (http://www.autoblog.com/jaguar/), Design/Style (http://www.autoblog.com/category/design-style/), Luxury (http://www.autoblog.com/category/luxury/)
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History has a way of repeating itself, especially in the auto industry. When Jaguar (http://www.autoblog.com/jaguar/) was owned by Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/), the British brand attempted to field a competitor for the BMW 3 Series (http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/3+series/), called the X-Type (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/jaguar+x-type/). Based on the bones of a Ford Mondeo (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/fusion/), it aped the styling of Jaguar's flagship model, the XJ (http://www.autoblog.com/jaguar/xj/), while borrowing liberally from the Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/) parts bin. That was 2001.

Now, in 2013, Jaguar is planning a new 3 Series challenger based on the platform previewed by the C-X17 Concept (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/09/09/jaguar-c-x17-crossover-concept-revealed/), while Ford is attempting to take the latest Mondeo upmarket (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/09/03/ford-reveal-vignale-sub-brand-special-mondeo-frankfurt/). The moves have both brands recognizing where, why, and how the X-Type failed. "It didn't look mature or powerful or anything. It was just a car," Jaguar's current head of advanced design, Julian Thomson, told PistonHeads (http://www.pistonheads.com/news/28479.htm). Basing the X-Type on a front-drive car while giving it styling that was meant for a rear-driver lead to proportions that "were plainly wrong," Thomson told PH. Ford's European head of quality, Gunnar Herrmann, added that the X-Type was "a fake Jaguar, because every piece I touch is Ford."

For what it's worth, the X-Type's successor in the segment will sport rear-drive, with plenty of input from Ian Callum (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ian+callum/). Thomson described the new model, which would challenge the 3 Series as having, "Big wheels right to the ends of the car, low bonnet, short overhangs, very low cabins." Sounds good to us.Jaguar design boss admits X-Type was a mistake (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/09/19/jaguar-design-boss-admits-x-type-was-a-mistake/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Thu, 19 Sep 2013 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.mnfords.com/rss-term-of-use/).
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[ZephyrEFI]

Easy for that guy to say. He probably wasn't involved at the time. I'm sure Jaguar was under the direction of Ford's contemporary terrible management to make more money cheaply. That same thinking got us such stellar decisions as cancelling the Lincoln LS and making a bunch more Ford-clone Lincolns.

I'm sure sans baggage, the X-Type is a fine car. and at the time Jaguar had no "reputation" to keep. Generally, they'd been building expensive, heavy, poorly made cars for a good twenty of the previous years. And on the upside, if it hadn't been for the X-Type, we in the US would not have gotten a taste of that version of the Mondeo. All Ian Callum does is rag on Ford, when if it hadn't been for Ford, Jaguar would probably not have survived.