Jaguar North America

Still trying to persuade would-be Jaguar owners that they can trust as well as love the cars, the British luxury car maker plans to begin widespread leasing of used models within a year. A reputation for poor quality and oft-told tales of frequent breakdowns has been hard to shake. But Jaguar's quality rankings are improving rapidly under the tutelage of Ford Motor Co., which bought the company for $2.5 billion in 1989.

Jaguar will pull the wraps off its latest new car today, a more affordable luxury model that will be called the X-Type and would double sales of the elite brand once it hits full production in a couple of years. The compact four-door, until now code-named the X400 but also known as the "Baby Jag," will go on sale next summer and be priced below the current S-Type, which starts at $43,655. Jaguar--a Ford Motor Co.

Jaguar will pull the wraps off its latest new car today, a more affordable luxury model that will be called the X-Type and would double sales of the elite brand once it hits full production in a couple of years. The compact four-door, until now code-named the X400 but also known as the "Baby Jag," will go on sale next summer and be priced below the current S-Type, which starts at $43,655. Jaguar--a Ford Motor Co.

Still trying to persuade would-be Jaguar owners that they can trust as well as love the cars, the British luxury car maker plans to begin widespread leasing of used models within a year. A reputation for poor quality and oft-told tales of frequent breakdowns has been hard to shake. But Jaguar's quality rankings are improving rapidly under the tutelage of Ford Motor Co., which bought the company for $2.5 billion in 1989.

Mazda North American Operations has promoted Stephen Odell to the new post of executive vice president and chief operating officer, and American Isuzu Motors has named Duke Hale, a former Mazda parts and service executive, senior vice president and chief operating officer of its sport-utility division. Hale, who also has held executive sales and parts posts at Volvo Cars of North America, Chrysler Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

William D. King has been named chairman and chief executive of Aviation Distributors, a Lake Forest airplane parts reseller. Salem Naber, who served as interim chief executive and president since March 1998, is retiring but will remain a director of the company. King has been a consultant for Aviation for six months. He previously was with JWP Inc. as executive vice president and president of the company's electrical and mechanical group.

When Jaguar Cars North America announced last year that it would build a prototype dealership in Mission Viejo, the company promised that it would listen to the community (for Jaguar, that's the community of relatively well-to-do folks who buy its cars) as it planned the facility. It apparently has, and is making several big changes because of what it is hearing.

Economic slowdown? Nasdaq stock crash? Slowing car sales? No problem, say makers of some of the world's most expensive cars. European luxury auto makers at the New York International Auto Show were glowing with optimism that the slowing economy and other woes won't hurt sales of their pricey marques.

Let's be honest: The only reason to buy the XKR is its looks. This is reason enough. Never mind what the Internet tells you. This is the only aphrodisiac that comes in capsule form. Sleek and fervent, the XKR (the high-performance variant of the XK8) is the visual descendant of the Jaguar E-Type, a car that in the free-love '60s prompted more shedding of clothes than an Alabama heat wave.

Mike Dale, president and first gentleman of Jaguar North America, continues to fuss about the Jaguarness of his company's newest, smallest sports sedan. Also about sausages. BMW's brawny 7-Series and Mercedes-Benz's majestic S-Class, he says, are large sausages. Cut off a piece and you have BMW's smaller 5-Series and the Mercedes E-Class. Slice off another chunk and you're down to the chipolatas of the litters, the 3-Series and the C-Class. "You still have very fine sausages," Dale continues.

One of my friends is a veteran Jaguar salesman who bites his words when he talks about Ford Motor Co., owner of the British luxury car line since 1989. Under Ford's watch, Jaguar has improved its frequency-of-repair record, but Jaguar's styling -- often so innovative and classic -- has become homogenized by sharing too many Ford components, my friend gripes. For years I've thought the same thing: Many Jaguars remind me more of a Ford Taurus than a British luxury car.

With all the shrillness at their command, SUV zealots seized upon last week's report by the federal government that correlated lower vehicle weight in passenger cars with higher fatality rates. One conservative lobbying group, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, gloated that the report showed that fuel economy standards were "even deadlier than previously thought." The study indicates no such thing, and the institute's spin on the topic is the stuff of magic mushrooms.