How Jaguar Regains Its Reputation - Case Study
ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW
Case Study: How Jaguar Regains its Reputation
Jaguar Cars, Ltd., is one of the most famous luxury automobile manufacturers in the world. With its sleek lines, leather interiors, and smooth engines, Jaguar is the car of choice for wealthy brokers who work on Wall Street in New York and the nouveau riche in Japan who shop on Tokyo's Ginza. The driving force behind Jaguar, William Lyons, was born on September 4, 1901, in Blackpool, a town in the county of Lancashire, England. Uninterested in academics as a teenager, he was on the verge of entering the shipbuilding industry when his father encouraged him to work at Crossley Motors, Ltd., and attend engineering classes during the evening. Crossley was a distinguished automobile manufacturer during the early twentieth century. By the time Lyons went to work at its factory in Manchester, near the end of World War I, Crossley's chassis were used by the British government for military ambulances, staff cars, and small trucks. The success of the war years carried into the early 1920s, and sales of Crossley cars increased. Lyons was unhappy at Crossley, however, and he soon left the company to work for Brown and Mallalieu, an automobile distributor, as a junior salesman.
In the early 1920s Lyons met William Walmsley, a veteran of World War I whose hobby was building sidecars for motorcycles. Lyons approached Walmsley, a neighbor of his parents in Blackpool, about setting up a joint effort to manufacture and sell sidecars. Walmsley was reluctant at first, but was finally overwhelmed by Lyons' enthusiasm. The two men procured a loan of 1,000 pounds from a local bank and established the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922. While Walmsley focused on building the company's sidecars, Lyons concentrated on hiring labor, renting a working place, and advertising. Soon the company was garnering a reputation for its sidecars, which were used during motorcycling competitions. By 1926 the rapidly expanding firm was
Case Study: How Jaguar Regains its Reputation
Jaguar Cars, Ltd., is one of the most famous luxury automobile manufacturers in the world. With its sleek lines, leather interiors, and smooth engines, Jaguar is the car of choice for wealthy brokers who work on Wall Street in New York and the nouveau riche in Japan who shop on Tokyo's Ginza. The driving force behind Jaguar, William Lyons, was born on September 4, 1901, in Blackpool, a town in the county of Lancashire, England. Uninterested in academics as a teenager, he was on the verge of entering the shipbuilding industry when his father encouraged him to work at Crossley Motors, Ltd., and attend engineering classes during the evening. Crossley was a distinguished automobile manufacturer during the early twentieth century. By the time Lyons went to work at its factory in Manchester, near the end of World War I, Crossley's chassis were used by the British government for military ambulances, staff cars, and small trucks. The success of the war years carried into the early 1920s, and sales of Crossley cars increased. Lyons was unhappy at Crossley, however, and he soon left the company to work for Brown and Mallalieu, an automobile distributor, as a junior salesman.
In the early 1920s Lyons met William Walmsley, a veteran of World War I whose hobby was building sidecars for motorcycles. Lyons approached Walmsley, a neighbor of his parents in Blackpool, about setting up a joint effort to manufacture and sell sidecars. Walmsley was reluctant at first, but was finally overwhelmed by Lyons' enthusiasm. The two men procured a loan of 1,000 pounds from a local bank and established the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922. While Walmsley focused on building the company's sidecars, Lyons concentrated on hiring labor, renting a working place, and advertising. Soon the company was garnering a reputation for its sidecars, which were used during motorcycling competitions. By 1926 the rapidly expanding firm was