Jaguar vs. Alfa Romeo: It's a British-Italian sports-luxury rivalry that goes back many decades — each brand with its partisans. But on neutral ground in the U.S., Jag has always held the upper hand against its Italian adversary.
Until recently.
In July, Alfa Romeo outsold Jaguar 2,016 to 1,880 after topping the British make by 11 vehicles in May, 2,377 to 2,366. May was the first month the Italian brand outsold Jaguar in the U.S.
Below are the ages of current-generation vehicles in the U.S.Jaguar still clings to a 16,667-14,281 lead over Alfa for the full year, but it is down 30 percent through July. Alfa has boosted U.S. volume from less than 5,000 from January through July last year, with the addition of the Stelvio crossover and higher sales of the Giulia sedan.
Jaguar says it's all a matter of timing — in a couple of ways.
"We have adjusted our U.S. volumes as we face strong headwinds from two trends: the marketwide shift away from sedans and sports cars, and being on the downward side of vehicle life cycles," said Stuart Schorr, Jaguar Land Rover North America vice president, communications.
Schorr said Jaguar expects sales to pick up some later in the year, thanks to 2019 model year interior and technology updates across the lineup and coming marketing campaigns for the F-pace and I-Pace crossovers.
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