For the US market, the F-Pace is going to be their best seller and biggest profit center most likely. Crossovers are king here... and Jaguar knows it. Porsche is a great example with the Cayenne and now the Macan.

 

It's one company now, so that's the bottom line. LR does very well in the U.S. My dealer sells 15-20 LRs for every Jaguar, and they'd like to have more Jaguars to sell, but can't get them.

My theory is that production attention is shifting to the XE, which I think will sell very well in the U.S. based upon universal great reviews and price point. As a result, like the XF last year, fewer '16 F-Types are being manufactured. Most of those purchased by forum members seem to have been special orders.

 

if the Jag comes out with a solid electric and the cross-over, they may see some real momentum

 

To preclude a stampede of "new members" getting OEM incentives, BMWCCA requires at least 12 months of prior membership. JCNA could do the same.

 

+1

I didn't know that, but it confirms exactly what I was saying above that JCNA has only itself to blame.

I've seen members here report they had signed a sales contract, but they hadn't taken delivery yet. Once they heard about the discount on this forum, they signed up immediately, called, got a membership number, and finagled their dealers into getting an extra $2500 paid by JLR.

That is abuse.

 

I did not finagle. I did not have a signed contract. However, I did take advantage of the discount and agree that JCNA (and JLR) are the only ones to blame for this. If the discount had been denied, I'd have still gone through with the purchase. It was the *car* I was after, not a deal.

 

I'm certainly not blaming anyone for doing it. Hell, I would have done exactly the same thing had I known about it. But it was stupid on someone's part to think it could go on forever, without some limits. I have a vivid image of someone in the "walnut suite" at Castle Bromwich going nuclear upon hearing about what was going on.

 

That's not abuse, that is using a promotion that was willfully given. It's on their public website with no requirements other than joining a club.

Money saved is money earned.

I used to work for a company that got partner discounts for nearly all auto manufacturers, usually a flat 6% off MSRP. I was going to use it for a limited production Audi which most dealerships were requesting $5-10k over MSRP. For the MY12 they let the program work on that car, for MY13 they put in an exemption for it. Would you say the people that got it for the MY12 were abusing the program? I ended up with the MY13 anyway and a pretty good deal.

 

Whatever, but it was very suddenly cancelled. Perhaps you can supply a better explanation. I wasn't saying anyone who used it "abused" it. I said I would have used it had I known about it. It was freely offered by JCNA, and JLR kept paying for awhile.

JCNA is the one who took advantage of Jaguar by not putting any controls on it and got burned. I suspect JLR did not realize, that unlike the BMWCCA program requiring one to be a member for a year prior to eligibility, one could sign up at JCNA for $100 and receive a $2500 discount that same day. That's a ridiculous return on investment.

I'd guess it will come back at some point with controls a la BMWCCA.

 

Ah gotcha. Thought you meant that people joining only to get the incentive were abusing it. It did end abruptly and probably like you say, because JCNA didn't put any restrictions and this being the age of the internet along with Jaguar having a very hot vehicle, probably brought in more users than ever before.

FYI, I only paid $30 so a hell of an ROI there.

 

I am one of those who signed of for JCNA membership in August just for the rebate.

The dealers were even pushing the JCNA membership - i had one who would sign me up at no cost and obtain number. Wasn't even a local club to me.

 

I don't think use of this program was abuse at all. This program helped recruit much needed new members for JCNA, and it helped sell many more Jaguars, that could have went to other makes. "Foosh", the return on investment is this "it was selling cars", and Jaguar is in the business too sell cars! No matter what you think, JLR still made a good profit on these cars even with this program. The program was a win for JCNA and a win for JLR. I would also say that the program was not even known or used by a vast majority of buyers.

 

I would agree...the program was put in place to sell cars and make a bigger US sales footprint and it did just that...maybe too good?

However that being said, I would expect that large of a discount from the Big 3, not tiny Jaguar.

 

Your correct. Without Land Rover, Jaguar would be in serious trouble. The F type has been a tremendous success, and they need the XE and the F Pace to be successful as well. A dealer once told me he is in the business to move cars not to have them sit there and look pretty.

 

Tiny jaguar can afford to discount cars. I suspect stockholders are still upset about not getting a dividend this year. Management has to do something visible to appease the investors. Cutting the discount to $1,500 or $1,000 would have been a more diplomatic approach.

I think the F-type has been a hit in the magazines, on Top Gear, on the various online reviews...but not really in terms of absolute sales volume. The cars sit on lots for a long time before selling, they do get discounted quite steeply and they do get traded in on other cars with very low mileage. A true hit would have carried an added dealer markup (second sticker). Certainly would not expect a discount nor any of several incentives they have offered. I would call it a qualified success (and a great car).

 

Also keep in mind that some savvy dealerships were actually signing people up for JCNA membership at sales time to make sure their customer's got the deal as part of their price negotiations.

Personally, I think the discount is a win-win, JLR sells another car (and I'm certain they still make plenty of profit with that discount), and JCNA gets more members.

If you compare against GM for example, pretty much anyone can get a huge discount on a new Corvette just by signing up for membership with a credit union. Its like 8% off MSRP, plus you can add GM credit card cash on top and get another $2500 off. They're probably an extreme example, but it important to be well informed about our options when comparing brands and vehicles.

I know that most folks who go to a Jag dealership to buy a car don't know about the deal (particularly given most dealerships don't either) so I can't see how the volume was high enough to cause a problem unless they were expecting maybe 1-2 a month or something.

 

Yes - I was even being given quotes including the JCNA discount without asking for it.

When I went back to negotiate a deal to include discount they informed me the JCNA discount was already included. They have a club they work with to get folks enrolled.

Make me wonder how many people got signed up for JCNA w/o knowing discount and the dealer keeping more margin for themselves...

 

I agree that this forum has to be a contributor to cancellation. Also the dealers using it on their own!

 

I have a hunch most good dealers will gladly give that $2500 discount on their own rather than lose a sale.

 

That depends on where the negotiations were at before the discount. Some of us negotiate deals at the limit of the dealership's profit before any discount is added. (I was just a hair above invoice in my negotiation on the 2016 FTR, so I was well below invoice after the JCNA discount was added, for example.) And there is no holdback on JLR vehicles so invoice is profit line (barring sales volume kickbacks at the high level, which doesn't impact a salesman's take-home.)

Sure they'd certainly discount a 2016 model by $2,500 off MSRP, but they wouldn't consider that with a sale already at invoice or near that range without extenuating circumstances (regular customer, personal friend of the GM/SM/owner, JLR executive discount, etc.)

My point is that the maximum discount a dealership is willing to offer is already within negotiation regardless of whether you're a JCNA member or not. But they are unlikely to sell a 2016 MY at or below invoice without cash being kicked in by a third party (like JLR.)

Hopefully JLR will work with the JCNA to create a new discount program in the future.