2016 Jaguar XF Review - car keys
There was a time in the not too distant past, you knew your career reached its peak when you had a Ford Cortina upscale proudly parked outside your entrance.
The concept of an executive car was invented in the 1960s, describing the cars that were targeted specifically to successful and medium professionals to senior managers, often the vehicles of the company, but were quite fast and flash to make people want in their own right.
When it came to Cortina, Ford has marked some of its higher-end versions with the letter E on the end of the model name standing for executive in the 1970s, Ford introduced Grenada as executive car headlight UK, while Triumph had its 2000 and had his Vauxhall Carlton.
Executive cars were considered the pinnacle of aspiration, but were also manufactured specifically as a business tool to enable their pilots to better exploit the motorway networks evolving Britain with a more comfortable ride for long journeys.
True to their design as a car to be seen driving, but they were also made to stand out from the crowd in terms of appeal, appearance and performance Typically, the first executive cars were made with engines between 2 and 3 liters 0 5 liter in displacement, compared with engines 1 6 liters of the large average family car.
As a result, executive cars could pass a pace well beyond those of your average living room, and the idea of an executive vehicle is quickly becoming a desired concept by many top professionals coming in 1960 and 1970.
So was widely recognized the car as Executive symbol of success that even the former poet laureate Sir John Betjeman wrote the poem executive in 1974, read I am a young executive as mine No wrists are cleaner; I have a Slimline brief case and I use Cortina now.
Somewhere along the line, however, everything changed suddenly Cortinas, Carltons and Rover P6s generating your grandparents would have associated with successfully found themselves playing second fiddle to a new range of contenders Teutonic throne.
In 1975, the BMW 2002 was replaced by the E21 3 Series of origin, which triggered a phenomenon suddenly the British engines were old hat and cars like the 3 Series has become the kind of realtors and sellers of vehicles dreamed of possessing; the car of your mother coo over because it was one of those fancy German cars.
BMW, Mercedes and Audi followed by later German cars manufactured premium for people who wanted to lead a German premium life, and suddenly these three brands have come to dominate the executive car sector.
So he stayed in the approximately four decades, with more likely to see executives behind the wheel of a German premium car, thanks to the reputation of Germany for the construction of high-quality vehicles, with superb engineering and car rivaling sports performance.
According to the Society of Automobile Manufacturers and Traders SMMT, some 1 4 million cars were sold in the UK fleet and business last year alone of these, predictably, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz were the three biggest sellers, accounting for nearly 253,000 of those sales only.
Sales of Audi rose 9 8 percent compared to the previous year, while Mercedes were an extremely important Sept. 22 percent BMW recorded the best figures of the last year, with nearly 37 percent more cars sold to business fleets last year compared to 2014.
However, traditional fleets manufacturers such as Ford and Vauxhall yet actually lead figures in terms of volume, however, from the standpoint of desirability out the Germans are still standing in front, and company car culture continues to evolve, traditional manufacturers are increasingly away in the cold.
Stewart Whyte, Chief Fleet checks, has worked in the automotive sector of the company since the early 1980s and noted that the nature of the management of the fleet has changed considerably in recent years alone.
Speaking to the Financial Times, he said Typically, fleets were run by people with grease under their fingernails, but now they are often supported by the departments of human resources because the vehicle is seen increasingly as part of the gross compensation plan.
This has led to significant growth in the affordable premiums sector, especially for cars such as A6 and A8, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class Audi.
It is not simply a case of companies that decide to be generous to their staff that precipitated the ever increasing dominance of German cars on the class of the executive vehicle, but the high-end cars are often far more financial success than other models, despite being more expensive.
First, German cars upmarket tend to retain their resale value better than any other Ford or Vauxhall vehicle, thanks in large part to the public perception of the quality of German construction, luxury and reliability.
In fact, it is what BMW's corporate sales division drh credits her rising success, as fleet managers realize that even if they spend a little more up front, they lose much less long-term money when it comes time to renew their vehicles.
Combined with favorable interest rates and the current financial climate businesses can get better returns on their purchases when their contracts come to an end for example, a BMW X3 has a residual value of 50 percent of its price initial after three years, while a mark less premium would devalue much more strongly.
This famous build quality also means that German cars have longer service intervals and reduced maintenance costs, which means that a modern premium car usually won t cost a lot more about his life than a car most basic there are 15 or 20 years.
Energy efficiency has always been a concern for executive cars, especially since the early 1970s, when the fuel crisis hampered sales of many brands who tried to cash in on the Executive segment, but that didn not the financial strength to power through the oil crisis.
Although it killed many potential competitors, environmental awareness has had a surprisingly beneficial effect on the cars of the high-end fleet, particularly given that the technology to reduce harmful emissions is often more effective in big cars that leads to reduce taxes on the road and, in some cases, the tax reductions in kind by as much as five percent.
But where does the future lie for current kings of the executive car market the same way that the formerly popular cars such as the Ford Cortina was replaced by German cars more upmarket, these Germans might soon be replaced by motors more powerful and luxurious.
Like vehicles like the Carlton, P6 and Cortina has become the standard option for business drivers and as BMW and Mercedes brands offering more upscale alternative, flashy, manufacturers like Maserati could now be ready to fly the crown Germans.
In particular, the new diesel model Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte have now given brands like Maserati their first real opportunity to make a serious offer to fleet managers and drivers.
Like German cars premium were faster, more expensive and more desirable than Fords, Vauxhalls and Rovers, Maseratis are faster by comparison, more expensive and more desirable than BMW, Mercedes and Audi vehicles.
And so fleet managers can easily spend their budgets fleet of high-end German sedans for a relatively affordable price, could stretching the budget a little further to see a growing number of professionals now behind the wheel of a Maserati .
According to Peter Denton, regional director for Maserati Northern Europe, the answer is yes, he said, We have established a fleet structure within the team Maserati UK there are just over two years and necessitated a new approach within our dealer network that previously was used primarily for the retail supply chain.
Maserati admits he still has ways to go until it's really capable of offering cars Executive broader market, but said that last year a 40 percent of its business was generated through fleet arrangements.
From there, where things are Would we are at the dawn of a new executive super saloons era and hyper luxury options where successful professionals haven t really until they're behind the wheel of an exclusive Italian sports car for all his wisdom and spirit, it is unlikely that even Sir John might have called that one.
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