QUALITY, DEPENDABILITY & RELIABILITY
Jaguar cars are built on our state-of-the-art production lines at Castle Bromwich. It’s a place of awe-inspiring craftsmanship, where hundreds of hi-tech robots and multi-million-pound machines operate in perfect synchronisation alongside thousands of highly skilled workers. And it’s up to Grant McPherson, Director of Operations, to make sure each car is perfect.
"Jaguar has always stood for engineering excellence and beautiful design," says Grant, "our role is to deliver the team's design intention, every time with every car. It’s our job to achieve a strict specification, and for me, quality is the ability to repeatedly achieve that specification. It’s that attention to detail that we instil here. We’re building luxury cars."
Unique cars, made to order
Every Jaguar is made to order so every car on the production line already has an owner waiting for it. And it’s this fact that underpins the handcrafted nature of Jaguar’s incredible manufacturing process.
"It’s about surprise and delight," Grant says. "I want every driver to get into their new Jaguar for the first time and for it to be a wonderful experience. We want to exceed customers’ expectations. Jaguar has fantastic products with iconic designs, and we are serious about our disciplines."
End-to-End Quality
In practical terms, this attention to detail means that every car is constantly scrutinised as it makes its journey through the plant. During the production of each XJ, for example – from its beginning as a sheet of aluminium to the moment it rolls off the final assembly line as a luxury vehicle – it will undergo thousands of precision process and quality checks. On the rare occasion a car is not perfect at the end of a process, it does not continue until the problem has been remedied, checked, double-checked, and deemed perfect.
"It’s all about keeping everybody totally focused on what it is that we’re doing here. We’re building premium cars," says Grant. "We’re building Jaguar's."
At the end of the process, dedicated inspectors then pore over every car, checking everything works, that there is no damage, and that each car has been built to a Jaguar level of excellence.
Jaguar performs for J.D. Power and Associates APEAL study
It’s this attention to detail that has led to Jaguar being announced as the ‘Number 1 Car Manufacturer’ in the What Car? J.D. Power Survey 2013, for the second year running.
The UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study was based on the evaluations of nearly 18,000 owners after an average of two years ownership. Every aspect of vehicle ownership was rated from performance, design and comfort to quality, reliability, cost of ownership, economy and dealer service satisfaction.
"This is a great accolade for everyone at Jaguar," said What Car? Editor-in-Chief Chas Hallett. "This study shows that customers are really satisfied with their Jaguars, a hugely important feat for any car maker."