Another comparable when it comes to national marque clubs is Porsche. Now, the focus of Porsche over the last few decades has been ôsportsö cars, although they have ventured off into grand touring models with initiatives such as the 928. More recently they have introduced a high performance SUV and, despite the outcry from the purists, it has been a sales success. North American sales in 2003 was 28,000 cars, including 13,000 Cayenne SUVÆs. Compare to Jaguar with North American sales of approx. double or 55,000 cars in 2003.

I hope you are all sitting down for this next stat: membership in the Porsche Club of America (PCA) is 53,000 primary members and 40,000 associate members for a total of 93,000 members! Primary members must own a Porsche. Now, using my previously arrived at formula for club penetration of owners, the PCA enjoys a 57% penetration among primary members or, more appropriately, a 74% penetration among all members. Compare this to the JEC/JEC in the UK with 40% penetration, the BMW Car Club of America with 7% penetration and JCNA with 1% penetration (all figures my own). Wow, are we ever far behind!

Membership costs US$42 per year and includes:

- monthly magazine
- membership in a ôregionö or local club with local newsletter and events. Some, but not all, regions charge an additional fee. It is up to them to decide.
- There are 140 regions in the PCA (compare to 60 in JCNA).
- Tech committees for all models help members with repair issues and write articles for the magazine/website/library
- Valuation committee to evaluate the market value of your car
- Specialized insurance scheme for owners of Porsches that are considered ô2nd carsö or ôfor pleasure useö with substantial savings on premiums (a superb idea, why have we not explored this within JCNA?)
- A national racing program
- An annual national convention: 600 Porsches and 1500 participants for 1 week of fun (compare to the most recent JCNA ônationalö meet, which occurs every two years and attracted ? the number of cars).
- Group tours to Europe and the factory.

As an aside, in a conversation with the current president of the PCA, he mentioned that they manage to do all this with only 2 paid employees and a few contractors. All the rest is done by volunteers.

Wow. Compare with your club.

Submitted by dthompson@gbc.ca on Tue, 03/16/2004 - 08:46

John,

Thanks for the reply. Ignoring the question of "fanatics" for the time being, it should be noted that only the rebate and the parts discount are supported financially by the manufacturer. All of the other benefits are supplied entirely by the club in question without any assistance from the manufacturer. Indeed, the Jaguar Enthusiast Club in the UK offers benefits such as technical assistance, a racing series, and car evaluations without any outside help from Jaguar Cars.

In the case of BMW, obviously the Ombudsman position is not filled by representatives of the manufacturer. The library and archives are organized by the club, quite seperate from the manufacturer. Indeed, the club has set up a registered foundation to receive donations (tax deductible) of archival material. This type of idea is long overdue on the North American Jaguar scene.

In the case of the "Friends of BMW" program, this is merely a list of individual owners/enthusiasts around the country who have volunteered their names and contact details in case a member travelling in their area needs assistance etc. I have seen this idea used in other clubs (in particular the Lotus club). As a matter of fact, there is a particular Jaguar parts peddler who has establish a similar type of resource on his website, yet another example of other individuals or organizations who have moved in the fill the vaccuum left by JCNA inability to deliver what the membership wants and needs.

Daniel

Submitted by jrwalker@ev1.net on Tue, 03/16/2004 - 08:31

I am surprised that there is not more paid staff, given the quantity of services those clubs offer. That they accomplish what they do with an essentially all volunteer staff is amazing.

Perhaps BMW and Porsche owners are more fanatical in their ownership than the typical Jaguar owner. I have long suspected the average Jaguar owner is not the average JCNA member or subscriber to the Jag-Lovers lists. WE are the fanatics, the average buyer of an new Jaguar probably isn't.

It stands to reason that a club that offers more will have greater participation. Those clubs are obviously offering services that people want. How many more menbers would JCNA have if they offered, in conjunction with Jaguar services like (taken from the services you stated BMW club offers, I changed BMW to Jaguar) :

- 20% discount on all parts at any Jaguar dealer or retailer.
- In conjunction with Jaguar, members of the club can save a minimum of $500 and a maximum of $1500 (depending on model) on the purchase of a new or used Jaguar.
- Technical service advisors are made available to club members to assist with problems (we are talking about professionals here).
- The club organizes itÆs own racing series
- Library and archives
- ôFriends of Jaguarö; a listing of enthusiasts across North America who are ready to assist a fellow member in need.
- An Ombudsman appointed by the club to act as a liaison between members who may have repair issues and the factory.
-(- A club coordinator to perform car evaluations (for sellers and buyers).

That is a lot of value for the price of the membership and several of those items (such as the parts and car purchsse discount)do represent a subsidy by the automaker.

I wasn't trying to say JCNA could never be like the clubs you mention.

Regards, John

Submitted by dthompson@gbc.ca on Mon, 03/15/2004 - 16:53

John,

I have just received an email back from the president of the Porsche club outlining the facts, and he states emphatically (with publicly available figures to back it up) that the idea that the PCA is funded by money and resources from Porsche is "urban legend". He stated unequivocally that he does not wish his full comments to be posted on a discussion board or forum, so if anyone would like to have a copy of his full comments just ask and I'll email them to you. I'll send a copy to you (John) right now.

Another "urban legend" put to rest.

Regards,

Daniel

Submitted by dthompson@gbc.ca on Mon, 03/15/2004 - 12:59

A reply! Thank you John!

Actually, I think it is quite the reverse. You will note that in my posting on the Porsche Club I mentioned that the president of the club told me they were proud to say that the entire club of 90,000+ members was staffed by only two paid employees and a couple of outside contactors, the rest was done entirely by volunteers. The Jaguar Enthusiasts Club with 20,000 members, for example, does not receive any outside assistance, financial or otherwise, from Jaguar Cars. I have a copy of their 2003 financial statement here in front of me. It shows for 2003 revenues of 1,446,890 pounds (about USD$2.6 million); they made surplus or profit of 151,727 pounds (USD$275,000) last year and paid "Directors' Emoluments" (UK term for directors fees) of 77,901 pounds (USD$140,000) last year along with wages and salaries of 76,938 pounds (USD$138,000) to 5 office employees.

I'm not sure what the finances of the BMW club are but I'm not sure it matters either. The parent company (BMW) supports in several ways. For example, offering rebates of $500 to $1500 dollars on the purchase of a new or used BMW to people who present a club membership card is a huge step in the right direction.

There is no doubt in my mind that the running of a successful car club means that certain key individuals MUST have a financial incentive to put out a good product. There is nothing wrong with that. And yes, if the manufacturer is willing to offer support, financial or otherwise, then it should be welcomed. It is up to the board of directors to make sure that the club remains independent and free of conflict of interest.

If I understand correctly, you are trying to say that JCNA could never be like the BMWCCA or PCA (or even the JEC) because Jaguar doesn't give JCNA enough money. I disagree (although it is true that Jaguar does not give JCNA enough money). I will pose exactly that question to both the BMWCCA and the PCA and then post the reply here.

Daniel

Submitted by jrwalker@ev1.net on Mon, 03/15/2004 - 12:19

Dan: It is apparent in both cases, BMW and Porsche, that the factory must subsidize a great portion of the operating expenses of the clubs and be involved in the operation of the club. To acheive that level of sophistication they must have fairly large professional staffs (read payroll expense).

I have no idea how much, if anything Jaguar contributes to the running and costs of JCNA but it can't be much in comparison.

Regards, John