With the exception of the F-Type, Jaguar will abandon all existing models and prepare for the transition to an all-EV line-up starting late next year. But don’t expect to see it simply replace the current line-up with similar, battery-powered models. The British marque plans to return to “where Jaguar started,” with aggressively styled, high-performance products targeting an elite group of buyers.
Jaguar’s EV plans are poised to bring the brand into a bespoke future.
Ever since it was acquired by Ford Motor Co. in 1989, Jaguar has tried to position itself as a sort of mainstream luxury brand – a strategy that continued even after it was sold to India’s Tata in 2009.
That strategy has largely failed and is being tossed aside, according to Managing Director Rawdon Glover whose new plan “is taking us back to where Jaguar started. That means focusing on more exclusive models sold in much lower volumes to more affluent buyers, Glover told MotorTrend.
It’s an appropriate time to make such a change. The long-struggling brand recently announced it is abandoning all but one of its existing models by year-end, keeping only the iconic F-Type, the spiritual successor to the legendary Jaguar F-Type. And when it does begin rolling out a line-up of new models in late 2025 it will switch to all-electric powertrains.
Abandoning the search for volume
Jaguar admits that going for volume sales didn’t work so it’s now trying to lure in more well-heeled buyers.
“Going for volume didn’t work, Glover said.
What is now known as Jaguar Land Rover did see a modest uptick in 2023, selling 420,584 vehicles worldwide, up from 330,781 the year before. But that was entirely due to demand for Land Rover products.
The Jaguar brand itself has been on a decade’s long slide, buyers worldwide purchasing just 64,241 vehicles adorned by the “Leaper” badge in 2023. The decline has been especially apparent in the U.S. market where demand fell from 21,786 during COVID-disrupted 2020 to just 8,348 last year. Its recent U.S. peak came in 2017 when Americans purchased 39,886 vehicles.
The latest numbers are unsustainable, Glover, like previous management, acknowledged. At least it is under the current volume-targeted strategy.
“A copy of nothing”
Jaguar says it’s lineup of EVs will be distinct and they will be “A copy of nothing.”
The transition to battery-electric vehicles has been a work in process for some time, Jaguar getting a jump on competitors with the launch of the i-Pace SUV in 2018. It was planning to follow up with a battery-powered replacement for the largely unloved XJ flagship but decided the EV package wasn’t going to charge up buyers, pulling the plug three years ago.
The carmaker has since rethought its EV strategy and. According to Glover, they will need to be much like the products that originally won over hearts and pocketbooks. Anything it brings out “has to be hugely desirable,” he explained. And it has to offer more than just an electric drivetrain to justify prices that are set to push above the $100,000 mark.
The new approach actually harkens back to the philosophy of Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons who felt “a Jaguar should be a copy of nothing.”
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What’s coming
Jaguar’s new EVs will take lessons learned from prior models like the I-Pace but will also be edgier than ever before.
“Expect something edgier than you’d expect from us,” Glover told MotorTrend
The first product set to reach showrooms late next year is being described as a “four-door GT.” It won’t generate much volume, said the executive, but will serve as a halo product helping define what Jaguar wants to become. SUVs – also all-electric – will follow. But while they will give Jaguar a chance to draw in more buyers they won’t go back to play-it-safe designs.
Glover noted that Jaguar has completely broken free of the Iain Callum design era, Callum being the man behind the distinctive i-Pace and F-Type, among other current models. The company held a shoot-out amongst its three global design studios, empowering them to push to the limits in search of a new design language. It didn’t even define dimensions or body style. Eventually, 17 full-size models were produced.
White glove treatment
Of course, looks alone won’t guarantee success. The future Jaguar EVs have to address some of the limitations – and problems – of the i-Pace. Glover hinted that the GT should offer range of about 430 miles per charge. The existing EV musters just 286.
Meanwhile, expect Jaguar to underscore its more exclusive repositioning with a shift in how it markets and sells its products. It will follow an approach more in line with high-end fashion and jewelry brands, apparently.
For now, Glover isn’t ready to disclose any more details. It’s unclear what the new GT and later models will look like, though some fans are hoping the new flagship will liberally borrow from the exotic Jaguars that exist today in the virtual world through the Gran Turismo video game series.
“That means focusing on more exclusive models sold in much lower volumes…” I think it’s guaranteed and volumes may reach 0.