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Hummer Dealers See Tax Break Disappear; TVs, Big Wheels in at Custom Dealer J Star Motors
Jaguar's new Internet ad campaign targeting younger buyers has Peter Abeysekera worried about alienating the automaker's core market-men 40 and older.
"They're venturing into a new market," said Abeysekera, Internet manager at Bauer Jaguar in Santa Ana. "It's a different audience."
Jaguar Cars North America, part of Ford Motor Co.'s Irvine-based Premier Automotive Group, has created a Web site, www.x-ingover.com, that it hopes will spur word-of-mouth interest with short animated episodes.
The goal is to sell X-types, Jaguar's entry-level car starting at $30,000. But focusing on the newer, cheaper models doesn't sit well with Jaguar loyalists, according to Abeysekera.
"Jag is kind of exclusive," he said.
Purists "don't like that we've got these other models," Abeysekera said.
But Abeysekera said he understands Jaguar has to keep up with Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
He said he battles perceptions all the time at his dealership.
A woman shopper recently asked, "Am I going to look old" in a Jaguar, he said.
Abeysekera said he hopes the...