JAGUAR COMES ALIVE IN SEATTLE

With more than 1,000 test drives in just three days, the Jaguar ALIVE Driving Experience is really accelerating writes Natascha Wolber, National Events Manager for Jaguar Land Rover North America.

Last weekend’s event at the Emerald Downs horse‑racing complex in Auburn, WA, near Seattle, was our most successful to date. After breaking the magical number of 1,000 consumer test drives for the first time just two weeks ago in Denver, we are excited that Seattle has broken every previous record with a total of 1,045 attendees.

It means that after six stops in our 18‑city tour, a total of 5,475 luxury car buyers have gotten to test‑drive Jaguar’s 2012 model line‑up of high‑performance XF, XK and XJ models to their limits.

How come Seattle proved to be such a success? I think local buyers were curious to see how Jaguar has changed and evolved with our new vehicle line‑up ‑ a line‑up that reflects our new, single‑minded focus on performance, style, technology and refinement.

That and the great location; Emerald Downs has a million square feet of newly‑paved asphalt, which made it perfect for stretching the legs of our cars on the autocross and high‑speed acceleration tests we had set up.

I think people also recognized the authenticity of the program. This isn’t the usual manufacturer‑sponsored lifestyle golf tournament, tennis match or concert. Our Jaguar ALIVE Driving Experience is an extremely focused, two‑and‑a‑half hour program that’s all about the car and driving.

The greatest satisfaction for every one of us involved in the Jaguar ALIVE Driving Experience is, without a doubt, hearing the comments from participants as they get out of the cars. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard people say, “I just had no idea,” or “I never realized Jaguar cars drove like this.”

These are highly targeted individuals who own and enjoy luxury vehicles. While around 30 percent of invitations go to people who have experienced the Jaguar brand before, almost 70 percent go to people who are experiencing Jaguar cars for the first time.

Where do we head to next? We’ll be at the Alameda Point Air Station in Oakland, CA during the weekend of July 20‑22. Then we head to the Monterey Peninsula in August for the Pebble Beach Concours weekend. From there, it's on to Boston, Chicago and New York in the fall before heading to Florida and the Carolinas in early 2013.

For a list of our planned upcoming stops, and a run‑down of the cities we’ll be visiting during the year, go to www.jaguarusa.com/JaguarALIVEDrivingExperience.