Cars, cameras, all that jazz...
Craig,
Your Jaguar is one of three things - an antique, too new to be an antique and too old to be QA/QC'd by Ford, and therefore, panel fit is the last of your worries, or it is newer and not by any stretch hand built. What gave you the impression that a upper-mid level luxury vehicle like a Jaguar is hand built in 2005?! Unless you have an XK120 or an E-Type - you are likely looking at a couple of quarter panels made by hand, on an English wheel - and guess what: machine assembled. By the way, that last craftsman in the auto industry "retired" when Ford took control of Jaguar - so, a while back. Sad but true. And I have yet to see any car that can match panel line consistency with new Audis - robot built, all.
Flotsam
I am disgusted to tell you this, deeply wounded to have witnessed it and on the verge of vomiting just typing this, but... Porsche did build an SUV, and it has done remarkably well.
Which leads me to the next point - Porsches, like Leicas and other super high end cameras, are often bought by people who will never even know what their capabilities are, much less use them. The already mentioned "doctors and lawyers"(although I find that generalization a little too broad for my taste). Majority of people who buy a Porsche, or a Ferrari, or a Leica, or a Hasselblad buy the name.
While its a lot simpler to point out with cars, there is a translation to cameras.
I think that Leica going under would be truly sad, for one simple reason: its an institution, a staple - a classic. And we need to hold on to those. On the other hand - they are an animal that has no right to survive. It eats too much and reproduces too slowly and has a lot of nimbler, more verile competition. They, those other animals, will take away their habitat with their more plentiful off-spring, and eat their food from right in front of their noses.
Leica will not need an ice-age or an meteorite, it will simply lumber to its end.
And then you will see their already ridiculously overpriced products shoot through the roof on eBay - after all, it will be a veritable dodo bird! No more will be made - gentleman, start your wallets!
And believe it or not - I dont think that cheapening their offering will help. Actually, I think "bastardizing" the name by slapping it on Panasonic dig-0cams and such will only hasten their demise. They are looking in the wrong direction, and its too bad - sad, actually. I will hate to see the years of tradition go by the way side, but I cant say the current and recent management deserves anything else.