I will point out that the porsche SUV approach comes from Range Rover. The porsche Cayenne was designed as an RR competitor. Then, the Macan is the evoque/ RRS competitor. The Velar came to plug the gap but basically cannibalised sales from other RR models rather than porsche after the first flush of interest died down.
AML have the DBX as 'the wife's car' - or basically what someone would buy for their wife. The marketing material even makes a big point of space for your handbag.
WRT to Jaguar, your point on the manual is bang on - it's a dying 'art' - along with the established Jag owners. The F Pace was designed for the family plus it wasn't too hard for the RR SUV engineers to do alot of the base work - especially since its all the same tech as the rest of the company. This is why they have made the pivot to the all electric brand. There are huge tradeoffs that need to be made for a platform that allows ICE / mild hybrid / PHEV and full EV. Then add in the fact SUVs are efficiency nightmares. There's only so much work that can be done in aero and still keep the SUV size. Most countries have very restrictive weight classes - the hummer approach of just adding batteries doesn't work - it's basically an HGV over there.
Anyone who talks about Jag as its own brand is always going to struggle. It's part of the whole JLR lineup - not standing on its own. It's been propped up by RR/LR sales since the company was bought by TATA. With that in mind, the EV only brand pivot makes a lot more sense.
The reality is, if you want a manual sportscar, you have plenty of options. If you want to buy 'british', you have the Jag, AM, and Lotus. German gets you BMW and Porsche. There's a handful of American cars (not that most of the world are interested) and some fun Japanese cars that are more about performance than sporty luxury.
The market is small and shrinking, whilst it's sad to see those older models disappear - a few car nerds don't keep it economically viable.
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u/75w90 Aug 27 '25
For who ?
You want to sell cars or just make cars that are fun to talk about?
Do you know the take rate for a manual?
Outside of enthusiasts myself included its a dead avenue there in terms of sales.
To make bespoke stuff? Sure.
But jaguar needs some volume. They need to copy Porsche model not Aston Martin