In regards to Jaguar fitting abasing the values of it's own past - it is their past and any company has the right to intellectual property/design etc.
Quite true, and they must also accept the consequences of the actions that they take as a result - for examples sales falling because people don't like their treatment of Suffolk Sportscars.
I am certain that if a company in China came out with a car that looked the spitting image of Morgan at a fraction of the price, this whole forum would be up in arms. Or if I set up a company to build a 'classic' 4/4, MMC's lawyers would be at my door in an instant.
But Morgan cars are currently in production. If JLR were still producing the SS100 and the C Type it would be an entirely different matter.
Without all the facts, I don't think it's fair to place full blame on JLR. Again, it's very very unfortunate but JLR should and has the right to their company designs/name etc.
Jaguar's refusal to comment is a significant part of the unavailability of those facts. If they refuse to tell us the real reason for their action, they must accept that we will look at the available facts, weigh up the balance of probabilities, and draw our own conclusions.
As far as I can see there are only three reasons why JLR would choose to stop Suffolk from making cars which they no longer produce but for which they still have the rights:
1. Lost sales: JLR think that people are buying SS100's instead of F Types - so if they stop SS100 production and they'll sell more F Types
2. Lost credibility: JLR think that people will look at SS100s and think that all Jaguars are like that - As if they really think SS100s have a lower build quality than JLR's output.
3. Lost opportunity: JLR see Suffolk making literally thousands of pounds profit each year and don't like it because they can't or won't do it themselves at that price point and instead want to sell SS100 recreations at £500k+ each
And of those 3, the first 2 are so ludicrously unlikely that the third reason is the one to my mind is the most likely. If they do, let's hope their financial modellers have done the projections for lost sales to SS100 enthusiasts because people dislike their treatment of Suffolk versus increased sales because those same SS100 enthusiasts, unable to buy their sub £200k (guess) SS100 from Suffolk will instead happily cough for a >£500k (guess) recreation from JLR.
Many Ford Cobra replica companies pay a license to allow this to continue. Perhaps the business case wasn't viable for Suffolk to invest such a thing. Here's hoping they can regroup and find another niche to fill.
If it's as simple as this - ie that JLR wanted Suffolk to pay a licence fee that Suffolk couldn't afford, then to my mind it's a clear failure of negotiation. JLR can easily see how much profit Suffolk has been making from its operation, so if they wanted too large a slice of the pie then they must accept that the public perception of their action will be that it's motivated by sheer greed.
