PARIS MOTOR SHOW: Jaguar F-TYPE to undercut Porsche 911

Jaguar says its first two-seater sportscar in more than 50 years will match the size and performance – but not the price – of Porsche’s dominant 911 Carrera.

Australian pricing for the ground-breaking new F-TYPE will not be announced until next month’s Sydney motor show, when the British-built roadster makes its local debut, ahead of local deliveries in 2013.

Jaguar will position the F-TYPE mid-way between full-size rivals like the Porsche 911, Audi R8, Nissan GT-R, Aston Martin DBS and Lamborghini Gallardo, and compact sportscars including the Porsche Boxster, BMW Z4, Audi TT and  Mercedes-Benz SLK.

While there are no shortage of rivals for the F-TYPE, Jaguar’s global brand director, Adrian Hallmark, made it clear which brand the marque was really targeting, pointing out that at just 20mm shorter and some 110mm wider than the Porsche 911, it will be a full-size sportscar without the exorbitant price tag.

“There are two types of sportscars – full-size and compact,” he said.

“F-TYPE pricing will sit almost exactly in the middle (between Boxster and 911 Cabriolet), but with the performance and size of 911.

“In V8 form F-TYPE is faster than (Aston Martin’s) V8 Vantage – and bigger. So it will have unique performance, design, character and market position. No one does this size and performance at this price, which is a Jaguar hallmark.”

Australian pricing for the Porsche Boxster starts at $107,000, with the most affordable Porsche 911 Cabriolet costing $254,600. This suggests a local starting price for the F-TYPE roadster of around $180,000.

Similarly, expect the F-TYPE coupe that will follow later next year to be priced from around $160,000, or midway between Porsche’s new Cayman and its entry-level 911 Carrera coupe ($229,400).

While the F-TYPE will be more expensive than the Boxster and Cayman, it will be considerably cheaper than Jaguar’s own XK range, which starts from $218,500 but is most popular in its $238,500 XKR form, rising to the $363,500 XKR-S Convertible.

“F-TYPE’s ability starts where XKR-S finishes,” said Mr Hallmark.

“Its width and height is the perfect platform for performance; it has a stiff, light structure, near-perfect weight distribution and is extremely fast and agile. The combination of technology and performance is unique.”

Describing the F-TYPE as “the most important car to come from Jaguar in decades”, Mr Hallmark admitted the Indian-owned sportscar company was late to the segment it helped create with the iconic E-Type, more than 50 years ago.

“Jaguar was one of the founding members of the sportscar market but, unimaginably, the 1961 E-Type was our last two-seater sportscar. Without a sportscar Jaguar is not Jaguar,” he said, adding that the F-TYPE was not a born-again E-Type.

“We love our heritage and wanted to create something worthy of following in the E-Type’s footsteps. But we didn’t set out to build an E-Type, but a 21st century sportscar. We didn’t sit around worshipping the sales of our dead predecessors.”

Mr Hallmark said the F-TYPE would be pivotal in positioning Jaguar as a sportscar brand, even if its global sales potential was limited.

“In one way we shouldn’t be doing it,” he said.

“The total automotive market is 7.6 million sales and, of that, 72,000 sportscars represents less than 0.1 per cent. If we’re going to grow why do we go to the smallest segment?

“Although the volumes are small the image associated with sportscars is far bigger than their sales suggest – small by volume but enormous in its ability to position the brand,” he said, in answer to his own question.

Mr Hallmark described the F-TYPE as the first in a number of “breakthrough” Jaguars.

“For Jaguar and for Land Rover there is unexploited potential which can only be reached through further product development – breakthrough products into new segments as well as regain the best from the products we already sell.

“But F-TYPE is the first of what we would call a breakthrough product – a new product into a new segment of new customers.”

The Jaguar executive said subsequent new Jaguar models will be similarly distinctive and unique in a crowded marketplace.

“I’m sure that Audi, BMW or Mercedes are not sitting there thinking ‘If Jaguar decides to enter one of our segments, we should step back and give them 10 per cent of our customers, just to be gentlemen’.

“They’re not waiting for us just to come and take customers away and at the same time, from a customer point of view, nobody is waiting for us to do more and more cars per se, because the competition covers the market well.

“So whatever Jaguar does, we’ve got to be successful (at) and we’ve got to be distinctive. We’ve got to have a point of view – that means a brand position and an approach to development of our products that resonates with our consumers, so that it pulls them from their loyalty to other brands to Jaguar.

“So what does Jaguar stand for and how can it compete in this hyper-competitive German premium brand-dominated environment?

“Well, if we look back into the history, which we did, and look at the cars that have been most successful in recent years, we can get a clear indication of what should drive us in the future.

“Three things stand out in Jaguar’s past – three attributes that when combined create the perfect Jaguar expression, our product DNA, if you like: innovation, sportscar performance and seductive designs.

“Our shapes and our designs should force people to fall in love with the product.

“When these three things come together, which they have done many times, we create something very special – a car that feels like more than just a machine, from its look and its feel and its responsiveness – it feels alive.

“This thought and these principles will guide everything we do as Jaguar from now on, including the brand campaign we’ve just done, and the future brand positioning and of course the product development.”