A few weeks ago, Jaguar Land Rover chief executive Ralf Speth appointed his former boss, Wolfgang Ziebart, 63, as engineering director, rekindling a relationship that began more than two decades earlier in Munich.
Ziebart was BMW’s head of engineering in the 1980s, an era acknowledged as model-rich and full of creativity.
Both Ziebart and Speth subsequently moved to the UK as part of BMW’s ‘Rover turnaround team’, an enterprise that ultimately failed. Here, Ziebart explains what brought him back to the UK.
What made you decide to give the UK another chance?
“It’s mainly because I’m excited about creating great cars. JLR nowadays is an engineering-driven company that reminds me of BMW in the 1980s. You don’t have to wait for monthly committee meetings to get things done. You can reach the people you need to talk to easily, and then make quick decisions.”
You ran one of the best BMW 3-series teams ever. Can the new Jaguar hit those standards?
“Our aim must be to blow the opposition away. Jaguar’s 3-series rival will be the only car in the class with all-aluminium technology, which makes it very special. Combine that with our new electronics and our innovative engine range, developed in-house, and you have huge potential. There is a lot to do, but this can be a great car.”
What is the priority?
“I can think of three. First, we have to take the lead in the aspects of design that move fastest: driver assistance, telematics, fuel and weight saving, stuff like that. Next, we have to refine the way we do our cars, making sure, for instance, that we have one electrical system, not many different systems. Third, we have to organise our product development into specialist teams so we don’t finish up with five different tailgate systems across the company instead of one. We need a tailgate team. Such things bring big rewards.”
Are you pleased with reaction to the C-X17?
“It’s been overwhelming. Jaguar design is very specific compared with other companies I have known. One styling project I saw at another company involved 50 separate models. They had to use an aircraft hangar to display them all properly. But [Jaguar design director] Ian Callum and his team bring just two models — usually a good one and a better one. Then the better one is further refined, and that becomes the car. To me, Ian is a wonderful designer. He finds the heart of Jaguar right from the first.”
What do BMW people think of Jaguar?
“More and more, they take us very seriously. In former times, Jaguar was viewed as a small entity with no future, but nowadays they watch us carefully because they can see we are going places.”
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Next target Audience
So many of these comments proving why JLR is right to look at their next generation target audience and not the previous.
More aggressive styling, gadgets, and technology and less tweed, wood and 'those were the days' attitudes is what will continue JLR's success.
The quicker they loose the local, yocal, vocal minority still hailing back to the good old days the better!!
Andehh wrote:So many of
Er... I consider myself in the previous target audience, as I feel that the Jaguar DNA has been all but washed away. I don't wear tweed and I don't need wood. I would like something that looks more British and less Japanese in a Jaguar. What happened to the sleek styling of the past?
I bought a 640i Gran Coupé. That's not a car for country squires as I remember. I bought it because it was elegant and sleek. That really can't be said of the XF and XJ. What queer looking cars. I am crossing my fingers for the follow-up Xk in the hope that I can finally own a Jaguar. As for the F-Type - it's simply too small for me and I can't get used to the front end. What is that? A Nissan? And I can't push the seat far enough back anyway.
High Five
high five to wolfgang for rover bashing!!
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JLR need to look at Renault's R-Link system or the new unit in the Vauxhall Adam. These simply stream data from the mobile phones in the car onto a central screen, there is no outdated built-in unit.
Manufacturers of executive machinery, be it JLR or the German big three, are going to have to find new ways of making a profit as folk won't stand for being ripped off.
bomb wrote:JLR need to look
I wouldn't do that (I mean look at Renault's R-Link). The existing system is using ageing technology and it's barely released - I know I tried to interface with it. The microprocessor is underpowered and they use an old version of Android. They have problems with it today. Simple stuff like opening multiple windows for their native apps etc... It has become a real headache for them and not easy to change.
Underlines the point though about leaving software development to the experts. Car companies are not software companies. Software developments are on sub-year lifecycles (microprocessors refresh every 12-18 months) whereas cars are on 5-7 year lifecycles - completely different 'wavelengths'. The best method IMHO is just to use the speaker and display system of the car in conjunction with a Smartphone or tablet connected via Bluetooth or WiFi as you so rightly point out.
I use the iPhone link in my BMW for music and the telephone. But even then the interface doesn't go far enough since their music subsystem is substandard with respect to the iPhones. They'd do better to follow Apple's in-car system.