There has been a lot written and said about Jaguar over the last month – not all of it positive. In fact, a lot of it (arguably the majority) has been negative.
The British brand’s teaser video and polarising Type 00 concept cars have been met with a combination of admiration and outrage from around the world, with Jaguar being labelled everything from ‘bold’ to ‘woke’ depending on a person’s point-of-view. But now that the dust has started to settle, it is becoming clear that Jaguar’s relaunch (or reimaging, as the company called it) may be the right decision.
Let’s start with the most controversial element of this new era for Jaguar – the teaser video. The 30 second spot featured no cars but instead a bunch of avant garde-looking models walking around in front of phrases like ‘create exuberant’, ‘live vivid’ and ‘delete ordinary’ on the screen. Whether you loved or hated the teaser it actually worked – it got people talking about Jaguar. Frankly, that’s not something people have done very much of in recent years, as the brand has faded into obscurity and irrelevancy against its key rivals such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The purpose of a teaser spot like the one Jaguar launched wasn’t to preview the car, but rather attract eyeballs and it didn’t matter if that was happy eyeballs or angry eyeballs, Jaguar just wanted your attention.
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Then came the actual car, the Type 00, an all-electric two-door GT that previews the brand’s planned 2025 model, which will be a four-door version. It’s a dramatic looking creation and one that has some subtle connections back to Jaguar’s history but is otherwise a major departure – which is exactly what the brand wants.
Jaguar as it was simply wasn’t working. It wasn’t selling enough cars to truly compete with Mercedes, BMW and Audi, so it has decided to shift its focus and instead go after the likes of Porsche, Aston Martin, Bentley and even Rolls-Royce buyers. Basically, it wants to sell less cars but for a higher profit on each model and leave the ‘volume selling’ to stablemate Land Rover with its Defender, Discovery and Evoque already competing against the Germans in the crucial SUV segments.
Personally, I don’t agree with everything Jaguar is doing. The rebranding is hit and miss, especially some of the new logos, but the idea of trying to make Jaguar ‘special’ again is the right one, in my opinion.
The Type 00 does have some elements of a Rolls-Royce to it, but I’ll reserve my judgement on the new look until we see the production car. I also like the fact they have decided to start again with a four-door GT and not an SUV, even if the latter is the wiser business decision. Much of Jaguar’s reputation is built on fast, luxurious sedans and so it seems like the appropriate place to begin a new era.
There are, however, two elements of this brand overhaul I am concerned about. Firstly, is my previous explained position that the company won’t actually sell any new models for at least 12 months but probably longer – and means at least a seven year gap between ‘all-new’ Jaguars in the showroom. A clean break is nice, and as long as Land Rover keeps bringing in the money the overall JLR business is ok, but it does seem like a very long silent period for dealers and customers.
Perhaps the even bigger issue Jaguar may face is the decision to commit to an all-electric future back in may prove premature. Back when it first announced this plan in 2021 it appeared as though the global market was ready to make a major shift towards electric vehicles… but this hasn’t happened.
Several governments around the world have pushed back their goals to ban petrol-powered cars and instead emphasised hybrids. This might have been the better strategy for Jaguar in hindsight, which is easy for me to say, but surely some highly paid JLR executives should have picked this as an option back in ‘21. I get it, developing powertrains, especially complex hybrids is expensive, but JLR already has a relationship buying powertrains off BMW so there was an option there to partner up for mutual benefit.
But would a BMW-powered Jaguar really be special? It certainly isn’t hurting Aston Martin that it has Mercedes-AMG engines. This is just the modern way of things and consumers have adapted. Or at least, they have adapted to turbocharged, hybrid powertrains, but as we’ve recently written, premium buyers are yet to fully embrace electric vehicles.
So, if it’s not too late, I’d be hoping Jaguar’s big wigs stick with the radical redesigned exterior but opt for a more popular powertrain option, at least in the short to mid-term, as hybrids and plug-in hybrids look like being the solution into next decade.
What do you think – Is Jaguar’s rebrand a masterstroke or a disaster waiting to happen? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on social media.
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