Jaguar and Land Rover finally stop shipments to the USA. Maybe Trump is onto something after all?

Photo above - This is what the world's coolest soccer mom drives. The Range Rover SV "Carmel Edition", $345,000. As of yesterday, it's no longer being exported to America.

I hadn’t thought that far ahead – to predict which automaker would back away from the US completely. If I HAD been asked to guess, I would have said something like Fiat or Alfa Romeo – very low sales numbers. But they’re part of the giant (but troubled) Stellantis. Ferrari? Lamborghini? Nope, the first player to fold in this poker game was Jaguar/Land Rover. They sold around 100,000 units in 2024, depending on whose story you believe (statistics vary). Anyway, they’re out. See link below.

I was concerned that genteel British craftsmen sipping Earl Grey tea and noshing on cucumber sandwiches during break time at Jaguar factories might start getting pink slips. Then I checked further, and of course most of them were let go quite some time ago. Jaguars and Land Rovers are now churned out in factories located in China, India, Brazil, and Slovakia. Some are still made in the 2 remaining UK factories. But if you’re driving one, you need to check the window sticker to find out where it was bolted together.

There is another reason normal people might not care if Jaguar Land Rover heads for the door: those things have possibly THE LOWEST build quality - slash - highest defect rates in the industry. There is no breakdown on where the problem cars come from. Just keep in mind that JD Power and Consumer Reports are constantly waving the caution flag on those brands.

If you own a Jaguar/Land Rover dealership (Like “Jaguar of Tampa”, not too far from me), you’re probably seeing your life flash before your eyes right now. How fast can you pivot to Audi or BMW? Better call right away . . . a bunch of other Jaguar dealers will probably have the same idea and pick up the phone too.

If you actually OWN a Jaguar or Land Rover (like some well-to-do Florida retirees), you have to start worrying about where you now get oil changed. Jiffy Lube probably doesn’t stock those special oil filters. Then there are brakes, shocks, piston rings, and valve trains . . . all implicated in Jaguar’s 9th circle of hell unreliability scores.

Just so you know, President Trump does NOT own a Jaguar or Land Rover. But he does have over a dozen cars, including recent both a vintage Mercedes S 600, and a Rolls Royce Phantom. Hey, maybe Rolls Royce will be the next brand to flip us the bird, and leave? Americans only bought 5,000 of them last year. And there’s only 40 dealers. Let’s do the math. Each dealer sells 10.4 cars per month on average. Maybe their breakup letter to us is already in the mail?

I’m just sayin’ . . .

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/british-carmaker-jaguar-land-rover-pauses-u-s-shipments-over-trump-tariffs/ar-AA1CnOcl?ocid=BingNewsSerp