LONDON: Jaguar is upgrading its F-Type sports car by adding more standard equipment, augmenting the warranty and offering options like all-wheel-drive or a stick shift to maintain sales momentum.
The F-Type has been one of Jaguar’s stars, with an 83% sales boost last year over the previous year. But sports car typically see their biggest sales swoon when excitement about a new model is at its zenith, and can then trail off quickly.
Jaguar, the storied British brand controlled by India’s Tata Motors, plans to keep adding extras to F-Type in order to lure buyers to its flashy “halo” car.
“Since F-type is so important, we built a business plan that adds more features and technology each model year,” says Jaguar spokesman Stuart Schorr. “It builds interest and excitement for the car as goes through its model cycle.”
The goal is to keep F-Type as Jaguar’s “momentum leader,” he adds.
To that end, the F-Type will get between $3,500 and $11,800 in added standard equipment for the 2016 model year, depending on the version ordered. It includes goodies like panoramic glass roof, 14-way power seats and a high-end audio system.
The warranty was extended to five-years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first, a year longer and 10,000 miles more than before. And now the warranty will include complementary maintenance.
Buyers will be able to order their cars with a manual transmission or all-wheel drive.
Yet Jaguar says it is largely holding the line on prices. The F-Type with the stick shift will start at $65,995, including the delivery fee. The coupe with the automatic transmission start at $67,295, up $1,300 from a year ago.
The fanciest F-Type for 2016 will be the F-Type R convertible at $107,445.
