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The story
Founded by William Lyons in 1934.1
Founding
The Swallow Sidecar Company was founded in 1922 by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley. In 1934, Walmsley elected to sell-out and in order to buy the Swallow business (but not the company which was liquidated) Lyons formed SS Cars, finding new capital by issuing shares to the public.
Jaguar first appeared in September 1935 as a model name on an SS 2½-litre sports saloon. A matching open two seater sports model with a 3½-litre engine was named SS Jaguar 100.
On 23 March 1945, the S. S. Cars shareholders in general meeting agreed to change the company's name to Jaguar Cars Limited. Said chairman William Lyons "Unlike S. S. the name Jaguar is distinctive and cannot be connected or confused with any similar foreign name."
Though five years of pent-up demand ensured plenty of buyers production was hampered by shortage of materials, particularly steel, issued to manufacturers until the 1950s by a central planning authority under strict government control. Jaguar sold Motor Panels, a pressed steel body manufacturing company bought in the late 1930s, to steel and components manufacturer Rubery Owen, and Jaguar bought from John Black's Standard Motor Company the plant where Standard built Jaguar's six-cylinder engines. From this time Jaguar was entirely dependent for their bodies on external suppliers, in particular then independent Pressed Steel and in 1966 that carried them into BMC, BMH and British Leyland.
Jaguar made its name by producing a series of successful eye-catching sports cars, the Jaguar XK120 (1948–54), Jaguar XK140 (1954–57), Jaguar XK150 (1957–61), and Jaguar E-Type (1961–75), all embodying Lyons' mantra of "value for money". The sports cars were successful in international motorsport, a path followed in the 1950s to prove the engineering integrity of the company's products.
Jaguar's sales slogan for years was "Grace, Space, Pace", a mantra epitomised by the record sales achieved by the MK VII, IX, Mks I and II saloons and later the XJ6. During the time this slogan was used, but the exact text varied.
The core of Bill Lyons' success following the Second World War was the twin-cam straight six engine, conceived pre-war and realised while engineers at the Coventry plant were dividing their time between fire-watching and designing the new power plant. It had a hemispherical cross-flow cylinder head with valves inclined from the vertical; originally at 30 degrees (inlet) and 45 degrees (exhaust) and later standardised to 45 degrees for both inlet and exhaust.
As fuel octane ratings were relatively low from 1948 onwards, three piston configuration were offered: domed (high octane), flat (medium octane), and dished (low octane).
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The main designer, William Heynes, assisted by Walter Hassan, was determined to develop the Twin OHC unit. Bill Lyons agreed over misgivings from Hassan. It was risky to take what had previously been considered a racing or low-volume and cantankerous engine needing constant fettling and apply it to reasonable volume production saloon cars.
The subsequent engine (in various versions) was the mainstay powerplant of Jaguar, used in the XK 120, Mk VII Saloon, Mk I and II Saloons and XK 140 and 150. It was also employed in the E Type, itself a development from the race winning and Le Mans conquering C and D Type Sports Racing cars refined as the short-lived XKSS, a road-legal D-Type.
Few engine types have demonstrated such ubiquity and longevity: Jaguar used the Twin OHC XK Engine, as it came to be known, in the Jaguar XJ6 saloon from 1969 through 1992, and employed in a J60 variant as the power plant in such diverse vehicles as the British Army's Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family of vehicles, as well as the Fox armoured reconnaissance vehicle, the Ferret Scout Car, and the Stonefield four-wheel-drive all-terrain lorry. Properly maintained, the standard production XK Engine would achieve 200,000 miles of useful life.
Two of the proudest moments in Jaguar's long history in motor sport involved winning the Le Mans 24 hours race, firstly in 1951 and again in 1953. Victory at the 1955 Le Mans was overshadowed by it being the occasion of the worst motorsport accident in history. Later in the hands of the Scottish racing team Ecurie Ecosse two more wins were added in 1956 and 1957.
Jaguar produced a number of cars that include the 3-litre, 3½ litres, the Mark VII, VIII, IX, the compact Mark I, 2, the XJ6 and the sports saloon XJ12.
Combined with the trend-setting XK 120, XK 140, and XK 150 series of sports car, and nonpareil E-Type, Jaguar's elan as a prestige motorcar manufacturer had few rivals. The company's post-War achievements were notable, considering both the shortages that drove Britain (the Ministry of Supply still allocated raw materials) and the state of metallurgical development of the era.
Daimler
In 1950, Jaguar agreed to lease from the Ministry of Supply the Daimler Shadow 2 factory in Browns Lane, Allesley, Coventry, which at the time was being used by Daimler and moved to the new site from Foleshill over the next 12 months. Jaguar purchased Daimler, not to be confused with Daimler-Benz or Daimler AG, in 1960 from BSA. From the late 1960s, Jaguar used the Daimler marque as a brand name for their most luxurious saloons.
An end to independence (1965–1984)
Pressed Steel Company Limited made all Jaguar's (monocoque) bodies leaving provision and installation of the mechanicals to Jaguar. In mid-1965 British Motor Corporation (BMC), the Austin-Morris combine, bought Pressed Steel. Lyons became concerned about the future of Jaguar, partly because of the threat to ongoing supplies of bodies, and partly because of his age and lack of an heir. He therefore accepted BMC's offer to merge with Jaguar to form British Motor (Holdings) Limited. At a press conference on 11 July 1965 at the Great Eastern Hotel in London, Lyons and BMC chairman George Harriman announced, "Jaguar Group of companies is to merge with The British Motor Corporation Ltd., as the first step towards the setting up of a joint holding company to be called British Motor (Holdings) Limited". In due course BMC changed its name to British Motor Holdings at the end of 1966.
BMH was pushed by the Government to merge with Leyland Motor Corporation Limited, manufacturer of Leyland bus and truck, Standard-Triumph and, since 1967, Rover vehicles. The result was British Leyland Motor Corporation, a new holding company which appeared in 1968, but the combination was not a success. A combination of poor decision making by the board along with the financial difficulties of, especially, the Austin-Morris division (previously BMC) led to the Ryder Report and to effective nationalisation in 1975.
Temporary return to independence (1984–1989)
Over the next few years it became clear that because of the low regard for many of the group's products insufficient capital could be provided to develop and begin manufacture of new models, including Jaguars, particularly if Jaguar were to remain a part of the group.
In July 1984, Jaguar was floated off as a separate company on the London Stock Exchange – one of the Thatcher government's many privatisations– to create its own track record.
Installed as chairman in 1980, Sir John Egan is credited for Jaguar's unprecedented prosperity immediately after privatisation. In early 1986 Egan reported he had tackled the main problems that were holding Jaguar back from selling more cars: quality control, lagging delivery schedules, poor productivity. He laid off about one third of the company's roughly 10,000 employees to cut costs. Commentators later pointed out he exploited an elderly model range (on which all development costs had been written off) and raised prices. He also intensified the effort to improve Jaguar's quality. In the US the price increases were masked by a favourable exchange rate.
Ford era (1989–2008)
Ford made offers to Jaguar's US and UK shareholders to buy their shares in November 1989; Jaguar's listing on the London Stock Exchange was removed on 28 February 1990. In 1999 it became part of Ford's new Premier Automotive Group along with Aston Martin, Volvo Cars and, from 2000, Land Rover. Under Ford's ownership, Jaguar never made a profit.
Under Ford's ownership Jaguar expanded its range of products with the launch of the S-Type in 1999 and X-type in 2001. After PAG acquired Land Rover in May 2000 purchase by Ford, Land Rover became closely associated with Jaguar. In many countries they shared a common sales and distribution network (including shared dealerships), and some models shared components, although the only shared production facility was Halewood Body & Assembly – which manufactured the technically related X-Type and the Freelander 2. Operationally the two companies were effectively integrated under a common management structure within Ford's PAG.
On 11 June 2007, Ford announced that it planned to sell Jaguar, along with Land Rover and retained the services of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise it on the deal. The sale was initially expected to be announced by September 2007, but was delayed until March 2008. Private equity firms such as Alchemy Partners of the UK, TPG Capital, Ripplewood Holdings (which hired former Ford Europe executive Sir Nick Scheele to head its bid), Cerberus Capital Management and One Equity Partners (owned by JPMorgan Chase and managed by former Ford executive Jacques Nasser) of the US, Tata Motors of India and a consortium comprising Mahindra & Mahindra (an automobile manufacturer from India) and Apollo Management all initially expressed interest in purchasing the marques from Ford.
Before the sale was announced, Anthony Bamford, chairman of British excavator manufacturer JCB had expressed interest in purchasing the company in August 2006, but backed out upon learning that the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy. On Christmas Eve of 2007, Mahindra and Mahindra backed out of the race for both brands, citing complexities in the deal.
Tata Motors era (2008–present)
On 1 January 2008, Ford announced Tata as the preferred bidder. Tata Motors also received endorsements from the Transport And General Worker's Union (TGWU)-Amicus combine as well as from Ford. According to the rules of the auction process, this announcement would not automatically disqualify any other potential suitor. However, Ford (as well as representatives of Unite) would now be able to enter into detailed discussions with Tata concerning issues ranging from labour concerns (job security and pensions), technology (IT systems and engine production) and intellectual property, as well as the final sale price. Ford would also open its books for a more comprehensive due diligence by Tata. On 18 March 2008, Reuters reported that American bankers Citigroup and JP Morgan would finance the deal with a US$3 billion loan.
On 26 March 2008, Ford announced that it had agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors of India, and that they expected to complete the sale by the end of the second quarter of 2008. Included in the deal were the rights to three other British marques, Jaguar's own Daimler, as well as the dormant Lanchester and Rover brands. On 2 June 2008, the sale to Tata was completed at a cost of £1.7 billion.
On 18 January 2008, Tata Motors, a part of the Tata Group, established Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) as a British-registered and wholly owned subsidiary. The company was to be used as a holding company for the acquisition of the two businesses from Ford – Jaguar Cars Limited and Land Rover. That acquisition was completed on 2 June 2008. On 1 January 2013, the group, which had been operating as two separate companies (Jaguar Cars Limited and Land Rover), although on an integrated basis, underwent a fundamental restructuring. The parent company was renamed to Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC, Jaguar Cars Limited was renamed to Jaguar Land Rover Limited and the assets (excluding certain Chinese interests) of Land Rover were transferred to it. The consequence was that Jaguar Land Rover Limited became responsible in the UK for the design, manufacture and marketing of both Jaguar and Land Rover products.
Sales in 2013 amounted to 76,668 units, an increase of 42% compared to 2012. The most significant growth was observed in Germany and the United States.
In 2020, the former CEO of the French company Renault, Thierry Bolloré, replaced Ralf Speth as the head of Jaguar Land Rover.
In 2023, JLR announced plans to move Jaguar further upmarket, following years of zero-profitability and poor sales. The holding company detailed its plans to downsize Jaguar into a lower volume manufacturer, competing closer to the likes of Bentley and Porsche. In June 2024, the company stopped production of every model except for the F-Pace, aligning goals to fully electrify the marque by 2025. Instead, three brand-new electric models will be introduced on the new JEA platform, starting with a four-door electric grand tourer in 2025.
Electrification (2025–present)
On 19 November 2024, Jaguar unveiled an advertisement showcasing its new logo and branding ahead of its relaunch in 2026 as an electric-only marque. The rebrand marked the introduction of a new typeface, colour palette, as well as new device mark, in a direction the company referred to as 'exuberant modernism'.
The change was markedly controversial, being met with criticism online, notably including that from Elon Musk, American comedian Stephen Colbert, and British politician Nigel Farage. Critics pointed out the rebrand's alienation of Jaguar's traditional customers, accusing the company of 'going woke'. Others have instead commended the rebrand as marketing 'genius', having captured mainstream attention for Jaguar worldwide online and on mainstream media.
On 4 December 2024, Jaguar revealed the Type 00 concept car at Miami Art Week, a non-production model which showcases the brand's design direction for its future electric cars. Like its rebrand a couple weeks prior, the car was met with a similarly polarised reception, inviting both derision and praise.
Following the rebranding and the new strategy, Jaguar ended the production of combustion engine vehicles in 2024, starting an interim period for the company to transition into a new all-electric lineup by 2026. Sales dropped by 97.5% in 2025 as a result of Jaguar's cessation of new car production, with its sales limited to older cars on stock from previous years.
From Wikipedia’s article on Jaguar Cars, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3