TAG Heuer CEO is a prestigious role but man is that one tough gig.
I agree with your sentiment that the product line looks broadly okay – nods to 60/70s heritage, nods the 80s/90s stuff more recently plus some technical innovation.
I really don't know what else you can do when this middle segment of the market is where it is right now.
Enthusiasts will demand 36mm faithful reproductions of Carreras but the brand won't do 1:1 heritage reissues because then why should the modern company exist (and also they would sell very few)?
Different enthusiasts demand lower prices for things like the modern Formula 1 but that is a pricing strategy that leads nowhere.
I can't see an obviously better strategy than the one they're pursuing right now. I would personally go deep on the 80s and 90s stuff like the Senna ana-digi S/EL – and no doubt bankrupt the company.
I agree, I think the current strategy looks ok. I was surprised to see strategic differences cited as the reason. But what we see happening today was the strategic plan from 1/3/5 years ago. Pin will have been working on future plans, and maybe that was the issue. We may never know!
Performance in the vintage market is an interesting angle - not one I had time for, although if this was a full deep dive, I'd absolutely need to go there. To an extent, the market for vintage Heuer today is going to suffer in comparison to the heady days of 2010-2016 when Autavia/Carrera values went through the roof along with pretty much all 60s/70s sports chronographs. Today, I'd suggest that the Heuer market is performing similarly to the market for vintage Brietling, Omega, IWC and so on - i.e. it's out of favour, but that's a market-wide shift rather than a particularly poor reflection on TAG Heuer's stewardship of its back catalogue. I think it'll come back around in a few years.
From TAG Heuer to tag, you’re it
TAG Heuer CEO is a prestigious role but man is that one tough gig.
I agree with your sentiment that the product line looks broadly okay – nods to 60/70s heritage, nods the 80s/90s stuff more recently plus some technical innovation.
I really don't know what else you can do when this middle segment of the market is where it is right now.
Enthusiasts will demand 36mm faithful reproductions of Carreras but the brand won't do 1:1 heritage reissues because then why should the modern company exist (and also they would sell very few)?
Different enthusiasts demand lower prices for things like the modern Formula 1 but that is a pricing strategy that leads nowhere.
I can't see an obviously better strategy than the one they're pursuing right now. I would personally go deep on the 80s and 90s stuff like the Senna ana-digi S/EL – and no doubt bankrupt the company.
I agree, I think the current strategy looks ok. I was surprised to see strategic differences cited as the reason. But what we see happening today was the strategic plan from 1/3/5 years ago. Pin will have been working on future plans, and maybe that was the issue. We may never know!
That would make sense. Maybe he came in with a new strategy and LVMH weren’t into it.
Heuer should be the case study for relying overly on heritage instead of focusing on a post-TAG design language.
When even the vintage market is slow to sell the most iconic Heuers, what does that say about the odds of the modern reissues?
I hope whoever takes over can steady the boat.
Performance in the vintage market is an interesting angle - not one I had time for, although if this was a full deep dive, I'd absolutely need to go there. To an extent, the market for vintage Heuer today is going to suffer in comparison to the heady days of 2010-2016 when Autavia/Carrera values went through the roof along with pretty much all 60s/70s sports chronographs. Today, I'd suggest that the Heuer market is performing similarly to the market for vintage Brietling, Omega, IWC and so on - i.e. it's out of favour, but that's a market-wide shift rather than a particularly poor reflection on TAG Heuer's stewardship of its back catalogue. I think it'll come back around in a few years.