Ups and downs of Jaguar - Essay Example

?JAGUAR Jaguar was started in Blackpool, England by 20-year-old motorcycle enthusiast William Lyons and his friend William Walmsley, originally as the Swallow Sidecar Company, in 1922. They commenced commercial production of the sidecars together with a small team of eight employees and began automobile body manufacturing. Thus began an incredible journey of ups and downs. (jaguar-enthusiasts.org.uk) Ford Motor Company entered the picture when it began purchasing Jaguar shares in 1989. However, they decided to sell Jaguar, along with Land Rover in 2007 and the entire transaction earned them no profit whatsoever. (Owens).They decided to sell to Tata Motors, India. The sale, completed on June 2, 2008 was completed at a cost of $2.3 billion and included three other British brands, Jaguar's own Daimler, as well as two dormant brands Lanchester and Rover. (leftlanenews.com) JAGUAR: Products After the Second World War, Jaguar launched its first sports car, the XK 120. The demand for this car was so great that Lyons had to change his original plan to build only 200 of the cars. Jaguar followed the success of the XK 120 with its C-type, or competition type, cars of the 1950s with more aerodynamic bodies. Jaguar then worked on the touring-ready 120, improving with the new XK 140, and importantly updated its race squad with its iconic and well known model of D-type. With good response, Jaguar continues to manufacture the X-type cars, both as the sedans as well as the coupes,. “The latest lineup includes the XJ, XK, and XF, all of which seem to share something with previous owner, Ford and stable mate, Volvo.” (jaguar-enthusiasts.org.uk) Externalities: Being a car manufacturing company, Jaguar produces the most common of externalities: Congestion and Pollution. An externality is the impact a decision has on a third party. Thus, using cars can produce the negative externality of Congestion, especially in a country like India where roads are not as well maintained. Congestion further leads to various problems, such as: Pollution. Any car manufacturing company causes pollution to the environment, both Air and Sound. Air pollution due to stationery vehicles not being switched off and Sound pollution due to excessive honking in high traffic congestion. Waste of fuel. In congestions, most people leave their vehicles on when stationery. This leads to the inefficient use of engines and is a waste of petrol or diesel, which as we all know, we cannot afford at the earth’s current environmental state. Waste of time and energy. Congestion is nothing but a waste of people’s time and energy. Whether they are travelling to and from work or for any other reason, it only tires and stresses everyone out. Wear and tear to roads. Due to the standstill traffic, Congestion causes a lot of wear and tear to the roads as opposed to if there is free flowing traffic. Damage to health. Congestion causes a lot of damage to people’s physical and mental health due to breathing in pollutants and being stressed out due to the congestion. (bized.co.uk) Jaguar also produces the Externality of pollution, which as discussed above, is a strain on people’s health as well as is supposed to be a cause of Global Warming. In our current state, we cannot afford to cause any more damage to the earth. JAGUAR: The Production Process Jaguar has developed a complete vehicle recycling program, around design-for-recycling guidelines, increased use of recycled material, and reducing hazardous materials, as part of their production process. They have taken this measure, due increased environmental awareness and an attempt to reduce their carbon footprint. . By means of this program, car manufacturers and importers of new cars in the United Kingdom take back vehicles that they put on the market at the end of their life ensuring that they are treated in an environmentally responsible fashion. This reduces the impact of negative externalities on the nation. The De-pollution process: Jaguar is working hard to remove its negative externalities by going environmental. When a vehicle is presented to a Jaguar approved treatment centre it is professionally de-polluted by the draining of all fluids, removal of the battery and tyres and the neutralization of the Airbag systems. Any saleable parts are removed and sold. Further treatment of the vehicle takes place at a shredding facility where the vehicle is crushed and separation techniques used to recover metallic material for recycling into new steel and non-ferrous metals. (jaguar.com) Government Control over Negative Externalities The most obvious way for the Government to levy some sort of control over negative externalities such as pollution, is to set a limit for every production house with regards to how much they can pollute. Crossing over the set pollution limit will give them a fine. This will lead production houses to opt for more green or environmental friendly production machinery and invariably help in reducing the negative externalities. The government must also take care to help reduce externalities like congestion. To do this they must improve the country’s public transport system and encourage people to use it rather than all of them taking out their cars. Also, they must launch campaigns that encourage car pooling and such. These measures, though quite little can effectively help curb pollution and congestion. Effectiveness of Externality Control Jaguar has taken into account the negative externalities in terms of pollution and wastage and has taken steps to negate them to a certain extent. By undertaking the de-polluting process for cars that they have introduced, they are ensuring that they do something for the environment. Also, this shows a good step towards environmentalism and shows that as an organization, Jaguar is not just interested in making profits. The measures that they have taken seem to be effective and will guide the way to a better, greener way of living. Jaguar has grown from strength to strength and has moved from Britain to India, but they know what they are doing and how it will benefit them as well as the environment. They have taken that extra effort to make a difference and should it continue, it will definitely pay off. REFERENCE: bized.co.uk. Negative Externalities, Transport Policy and Congestion Charging – 230204. Retrieved on April 8, 2011, from http://www.bized.co.uk/current/mind/2003_4/230204.htm jaguar-enthusiasts.org.uk. Jaguar History. Retrieved on April 8, 2011, from http://www.jaguar-enthusiasts.org.uk/jaguar-history.html jaguar.com. Vehicle Recycling. Retrieved on April 8, 2011, from http://www.jaguar.com/gb/en/#/about_jaguar/sustainability/vehicle_recycling leftlanenews.com. 5 for 2 Special: Tata acquires 3 other British Marques in Jaguar, Land Rover deal. Retrieved on April 8, 2011, from http://www.leftlanenews.com/5-for-2-special-tata-acquires-3-other-british-marques-in-jaguar-land-rover-deal.html#more-6922 Owens, M. The History of Jaguar. Retrieved on April 8, 2011, from http://www.cyberparent.com/wheels/jaguar.htm Read More