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NEWS
Safety focus for next-gen Jaguars
Brand director says that style is king, but four-star NCAP ratings will be a thing of the pastJaguar's XF has enjoyed a strong year for Aussie sales in 2013, despite lacking that all-important five-star seal of approval from the crash safety experts at NCAP.
It came as a complete surprise to Jaguar design director Ian Callum to learn at the Frankfurt motor show last week that the XF sedan is number three in its VFACTS segment for year to date sales.
Yet the attractive luxury four-door (577 sales for the year so far) is only out-sold by the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (784) and BMW 5 Series (728). It is more popular than Audi's A6 (330), BMW's 5 Series GT (113), Infiniti M (33), Lexus GS (381) and Mercedes CLS (318). And it's the only car of those listed without a five-star NCAP rating, other than the Infiniti, which is yet to be assessed. Even cars that sell in dribs and drabs (Honda Legend) or have been recently discontinued but still appear in VFACTS figures (Saab 9-5) are deemed safer in a crash than the XF.
Clearly Australian buyers are less concerned about ultimate safety if they like the fundamentals of the car's design.
That's the sort of logic underpinning a statement from Jaguar's global brand director, Adrian Hallmark, offered during the press preview day in Frankfurt last week.
"We want to build the best looking car in any segment that we go for," he said. "We'll compromise on other things in order to get the best looking car, because we believe that for a Jaguar to be a Jaguar it's got to look the best in the world, it's got to be a genuine technology story... and the drive has got to be the best of all."
Hallmark's observation was subsequently echoed by Callum.
"Part of Jaguar's function is to be beautiful, isn't it?" the design director asked rhetorically.
But Callum is a little less gung-ho than Hallmark on the question of form trumping function.
"You've got to reach that balance of pragmatism versus style in absolutely everything you do," he acknowledged.
"[The production version of the C-X17 concept] has to carry four or five people and their luggage; therefore it has to be a certain size.
"We will take liberties – subtly – in some areas to get the style we want. But there are limitations, clearly.
"Will we ever build the best-packaged car in the world? No... but we have a sister company that probably will.
"If you don't want a Jaguar two-seater; you want a car you can get three kids and a dog and everything else in the back, buy a Discovery. We're happy with that, that kind of scope that people have got choice with.
"Design and style matter a lot to us; it's a major differentiator for us... and especially against our competitors..."
Nonetheless, one of those limitations that comes into play during the design phase of a new Jag is safety.
Kevin Stride is Jaguar's Vehicle Line Director with responsibility for the new aluminium architecture that will form the basis for the new C/D sedan currently under development (and the production version of the C-X17 too, we believe). Participating in the same interview as Callum, he offered his view that both the new, smaller models – built off the same architecture – will take into account pending and current legislative and consumer safety requirements – which presumably includes Euro NCAP and America's IIHS with its 20 per cent frontal offset crash test.
"Clearly we take into account all future regulations and consumer tests when we design our products, so we're very aware of those and what we need to do," he said.
That comment was backed by Jaguar's Senior Manager for Global Communications, Gordon Snoddy.
"Safety... is a big part of how we have developed this future architecture, because what we currently live with is a legacy of different platforms from different ownerships – borrowed from other people.
"It's the first time that Jaguar has really started from a fresh sheet of paper [since the XK].
"Safety's right up there at the top of the list."
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Written byKen Gratton
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