A frenetic 18 months and a new owner at Jaguar for Managing Director Mike O'Driscoll
It’s been a turbulent year for Jaguar, the legendary British automaker. Like all its rivals, up-market or mainstream, the automaker is struggling in the wake of the industry’s worst downturn in decades. Complicating matters is the fact that Jaguar has new owners. Last June, it was sold off by its struggling parent, Ford Motor Co., along with Ford’s other British marque, Land Rover.
The new parent is Tata Motors, one of the emerging world’s most ambitious brands. Manning the helm for Jaguar is Mike O’Driscoll, a long-time employee who was named Managing Director just as talk of the sale got underway, 18 months ago. TheDetroitBureau.com caught up with O’Driscoll – MOD, to close friends and associates — and turned the conversation to everything from product to the challenges of working for an Indian auto company.
TheDetroitBureau: How has the hand-off been completed? Is Ford completely out of the picture?
MOD: It’s been a great last 18 months for Jaguar and Land Rover. The deal’s concluded and we’re running our own business. We have various agreements, contracts, with Ford Motor Co. for the supply of technologies and certain processes, but they’re fairly limited in scope. They’re not involved in running the business and haven’t been since before he June 2008 acquisition.
TheDetroitBureau: How difficult has it been to make the jump from Ford to a company like Tata, which has plenty of money and ambition, but hasn’t been in the luxury market or mainstream?
MOD: Certainly, there’ve been a lot of changes. We’re no longer part of a multinational corporation. This is as much about the progress we’re making as a company as it is about our ownership. I think we’re a more entrepreneurial company, a faster moving company, these days, and in the space of 24 months, we’ll pretty much remake the product line and the brand image. We’re all delighted with the progress to date since we introduced XF last year.
TheDetroitBureau: How does Tata interface with Jaguar? What do they do on a day-to-day basis?
MOD: We discuss our plans with Tata management, with the CEO and their chairman, Mr. Tata, and then go on about executing. With Ford, Jaguar was just one of many brands they owned around the world, and the method of management was very different. It was that of a large multinational controlling and influencing the plans.
TheDetroitBureau: You seem to be saying it’s easier to work with Tata.
MOD: There’s a very entrepreneurial, very innovative spirit about the company. They like what we’re doing and like working with us. So, we’re in a very good place moving forward.
TheDetroitBureau: There was an obvious sense of frustration, in the past, when it came to Jaguar getting what it needed from Ford. How has that changed?
MOD: we introduced the XF to great critical acclaim. It’s loved by owners. It’s loved by the media. It’s won all sorts of awards, including car of the year in the UK, and in Russia. We’ve just introduced two new engines: a gasoline and a diesel. And we introduced the XK-r, in Detroit, and gotten great critical reviews. In the end, it’s about great new products. And in a few months, we’re going to show the new XJ.
TheDetroitBureau: you were strongly faulted for the last XJ, which critics said was too much like the older model. So, how significant will the new model be?
MOD: terrifically significant because, in many ways, it completes the revitalization of the product line-up. We think it will be as successful as the XF has been.
TheDetroitBureau: Beyond the XF?
MOD: we’ve got to continue remaking Jaguar into Jaguar again, which is all about being the sporting company we always were, with sports sedans, sports car. We’re well on the way.
TheDetroitBureau: Does that mean a significantly increased line-up, the way many luxury competitors have grown, like Mercedes Benz or BMW?
MOD: Not significantly, because I don’t believe we need a large number of cars. We have said we’d like to build a sports car one day. We believe Porsche is a much better-sized company to scale ourselves (against), but today, even Porsche is bigger than we are, with a broader product line-up, so we have much left to do.
TheDetroitBureau: Back to Tata. They’ve been having financial problems, lately. Will that cause problems for you?
MOD: We’re charged with running Jaguar and we have to go run it in the best way we can. We’re delighted with where we are and we’ll keep on going. If we continue going the way we have, we’ll be okay.
TheDetroitBureau: How does Land Rover fit in?
MOD: We’re one company, two brands — a great way to think of us. We work great behind the scenes. But we have different brands, two different sets of products, two different philosophies. It works really well. Where we can share behind the scenes, it gives us great economies scale, which is really important, these days, developing things like engine technology, heating and cooling systems, infotainment architecture.
TheDetroitBureau: You’ve been heavily dependent on the U.S., for many years. Is that changing, as a result of the economic downturn – and the emergence of luxury buyers in emerging markets?
MOD: Well, the U.S. Is still very important to us, especially with the repositioning of the brand it will remain important going forward. It’s less as a percentage of our total sales, compared to 15 years ago, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see that pick up again, with an economic recovery and the revival of demand for luxury cars. Sure, we’re expanding sales in China, Russia and the Middle East, but in the segments we compete in, the North American market is still very important and still accounts for 40 percent of global demand in midsize and larger luxury markets.
TheDetroitBureau: How long is the luxury slump likely to continue?
MOD: You know, when we’re in bad times, everybody thinks they won’t end. And when we’re in good times, everybody thinks they won’t end. The truth is they’ll end. And we have to keep looking forward.