No need for AMG: Jaguar

Jaguar will not follow brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW with the set-up of a stand-apart performance division, though it will foster its Engineered to Order (ETO) operation. That’s the view of Jaguar Cars, Global Product Marketing and Planning Director, Steven De Ploey.

Speaking at last week’s launch of the 405kW XJR and XFR-S performance models in Seattle (USA), De Ploey told motoring.com.au the British prestige marque had no need for a halo performance brand but also clarified the internal role of ETO.

“What we clearly decided within Jaguar Land Rover, particularly for the Jaguar brand, [is] every Jaguar is about performance,” the product and marketing chief stated.

“We don’t want there to be a performing Jaguar, and a non-performing Jaguar,” he said.

“I think in the case of M and AMG, BMW and Mercedes clearly decided that they want to market those sub-brands as an entity of their own, you know, as a bespoke performance house, basically, on behalf of the modern brand,” he commented.

“[in contrast] ETO has a double mission, because they work both on the extreme performance derivatives and also work on the extreme luxury derivatives. And they do that not only for Jaguar, they also do that for Land Rover... So things like ‘Autobiography Black’, you know, on Land Rover or Range Rover, these things, they equally are done by our ETO division,” De Ploey explained.

“Now, actually, AMG and M have started to work also on the luxury derivatives as well, but in the eyes of the customer, it’s still very much the performance proposition.

According to De Ploey the difference is while AMG and M are brands in their own right, ETO is an internal service provider for Jaguar and Land Rover.

“As such for us, it [ETO] is an important facilitator internally, to beef up the performance credentials beyond the standard performance, which is already at a high level, but we have no intention of putting it front of house as a customer-facing brand.

So what about the new emphasis on the Jaguar hotrods: the R, R-S and R-S GT badged vehicles?

Jaguar now offers six R, R-S and R-S GT badged models spread across the XK, XF and XJ ranges. It defines R as for vehicles with performance tuning of “core technology”; R-S as vehicles that boast new performance technology and “significant underbody changes”; and, finally, R-S GT as featuring “bespoke track-inspired engineering.”

To date only the aging XK 2+2 GT is offered in all-three performance variants.

DePloey states: “[R] is a sub-brand of the primary brand.  It is not an ETO-owned attribute, or whatever. It [our positioning] is very clear, very clear.

“We have a very clear agreement internally; it is, I mean, Jaguar equals performance. Luxury performance... And we don’t want anything to trump that, you know? Jaguar is the epitome, if you want,” he stated.

This writer is on Twitter @petrolhedonist

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