Jaguar is, like BMW, an automaker that only makes rear-wheel drive cars. Wait, that didn’t come out right! But a recent article on the future of the big cat has a striking similarity to what the Bavarian are up to. We’re not talking about the Jaguar SUV, though we could, but about the introduction of all-wheel drive on their luxury saloons.
According to AutoCar, Jaguar will bring XFs and XJs that put their power down using all four wheels in the next two years. The news comes from the manufacturer’s boss Adrian Hallmark, who describes these as being critical in order to take on the us market. Now where have we heard that before? Oh yes, BMW needs an AWD M5 to take on the US market right?
“In the past all-wheel-drive has meant Audi and Quattro, but now it is something that the market expects,” said Hallmark, speaking at the Los Angeles motor show. “In the snowbelt of America it accounts for 70 per cent of sales, and overall it accounts for 30 per cent of sales, so we are working on it and in the final stages of a decision. It is core to our future offering.”
So basically, every other manufacturer that wants to do business in the States needs to make an Audi, no matter what their own heritage says. The blasphemy continues, as Hallmark also talks about hybrid Jaguars also being important, but only in the long-run.
“In the past all-wheel-drive has meant Audi and Quattro, but now it is something that the market expects,” said Hallmark, speaking at the Los Angeles motor show. “In the snowbelt of America it accounts for 70 per cent of sales, and overall it accounts for 30 per cent of sales, so we are working on it and in the final stages of a decision. It is core to our future offering.”
So basically, every other manufacturer that wants to do business in the States needs to make an Audi, no matter what their own heritage says. The blasphemy continues, as Hallmark also talks about hybrid Jaguars also being important, but only in the long-run.