By Leftlane Staff
Wednesday, Mar 22nd, 2006 @ 12:25 pm

The Detroit News has an interesting overview of the problems at Jaguar, and the company’s ongoing struggle to get out of the red. Columnist Neil Winton says the new XK is a solid offering, but “is unlikely to achieve much for Jaguar ,” because it will be low volume. According to Krish Bhaskar, who heads the Motor Industry Research Unit in France, the new S-Type will make ore break Jaguar. “The next generation S-Type will be a defining car for Jaguar. It will have to be much more radically styled but also conventionally pretty. So think in terms of the Mercedes CLS, rather than the Mercedes E-Class or BMW 5-Series . This will also be Jaguar’s entry level saloon,” Bhaskar said. Winton says for Jaguar to succeed, it must “forget the retro look and make the product look modern and exciting.” The retro Jaguar XJ is a perfect example. “The XJ has been a complete flop. It’s a great product but the styling was too much like the old one”, said Colin Couchman, another analyst. (Shown right is a Jag concept that may hint to the new S-Type).

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