Jaguar Aims To Become Performance Car Brand Of Choice

2015 Jaguar F-Type S Convertible (Credit: Jaguar)

Jaguar is getting more and more aggressive lately, especially when it comes to rivaling German brands such as Porsche. During the recent New York International Auto Show, the company’s global brand director Steven De Ploey spoke with Australian automotive website CarAdvice. During the interview De Ploey said that Jaguar is aiming to become the “world’s performance car brand of choice.”

Lest you think that De Ploey and Jaguar have lost their minds, he did admit that at the moment the brand doesn’t enjoy that kind of status. Jaguar has been carefully crafting an image of being “bad” and “evil” through clever marketing, but when most people think of performance cars it isn’t Jaguar that pops into their mind first.

As they say, shooting for the stars can result in accomplishing great things, even if you fall short. Some might characterize De Ploey’s statement as symptomatic with Jaguar’s out-of-touch nature, but the company needs to have a lofty goal if it ever wants to have a shot at the Germans. It’s safe to say that Cadillac at least to an extent shares the same type of goal.

To become the premier performance car brand, De Ploey said that he knows the media and consumers must be convinced. Jaguar will be concentrating on how its vehicles ride and handle, delivering the best possible experience. That’s a wise move, because just focusing on raw power alone would be to miss a big chunk of what’s made brands like BMW and Mercedes what they are today.

Expect to see more Jaguars like the F-Type, which was something De Ploey mentioned. The upcoming F-Pace crossover is supposed to be more performance-oriented, aiming squarely at the Porsche Macan.

Jaguar will also continue to work on its image, which includes how people who have and haven’t driven its cars perceive the brand’s identity. According to De Ploey, when it comes to this, Jaguar’s “trailing just behind” Porsche and BMW.