Jaguar managed to stir up more controversy in the past few weeks than it has previously managed to do in its almost 80-year history (more than 100 years if you trace the company’s lineage all the way back to its origins as Swallow Sidecars).
Suffering an acute sales crisis in the past five years, as customers stayed away from impressive, but conventional, cars such as the XF, XE, and F-Pace SUV, Jaguar’s parent company, Jaguar Land Rover, itself part of the vast Tata conglomerate, has decided to bin the entire current range (no new Jaguars will be sold, other than a handful from stock, for the next two years) and re-invent the brand entirely.
This dramatic concept car — called the Type 00, and shown as part of Miami Art Week — is a hint as to the style and performance of future Jaguar models, which will no longer compete with BMW, Mercedes, and Audi in the volume premium segment, but will instead move to a more expensive, exclusive position as a rival to the likes of Bentley, Porsche, and Aston Martin.
It comes little more than a year after an all-new, all-electric XJ saloon was cancelled at the last moment before it was revealed. Jaguar’s management felt that even as an EV, it was just too much like what had gone before, and therefore would just not generate enough interest, sales, nor profits against stiff competition from BMW, Mercedes, and Audi. Hence the new Jaguar.
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The reasoning goes that Jaguar’s sister brand, Land Rover, is making massive profits off the back of selling relatively small numbers of Range Rovers and Defenders, but selling them all at high prices. Indeed, a recent limited-edition run of Range Rovers sold out within minutes, in spite of being priced at almost Rolls-Royce levels.
Will people be prepared to spend similar cash on a Jaguar? That remains to be seen, but the point of the brand’s re-invention is to make it more exclusive, more bespoke, and to in theory allow it to squeeze profits — long since a rare thing at Jaguar, at least since its 1960s heyday — from a brand that still carries much resonance for people. Certainly, the enormous reaction across media and social media to the brand campaign — with its new logos, and its androgynous models in a promotional video — stirred up such a response, both positive and negative, that it’s clear people still care about Jaguar.
For the new age of the company, Jaguar has developed a new all-electric platform, dubbed the Jaguar Electric Architecture. From this, three models will be initially launched — a sleek four-door luxury saloon, a coupe, and an SUV. All will be electric-only, as Jaguar is trying to see past the current slump in electric car sales in some markets (and indeed is doubtless buoyed up by the fact that, globally, electric car sales have grown by 35 per cent so far this year).
The style of the Type 00 shouldn’t, according to Jaguar, be taken as read for the final production models. Rather it’s a pure concept car, showing off possibilities for the new lineup, although images of disguised prototypes of the initial four-door ‘GT’ saloon seem to show that it will share the basic long-bonnet, short-tail proportions of the concept, which is being shown off in two striking colours — Miami Pink and London Blue.
That theatrical shape seems to owe more to 1930s Art Deco than it does to Jaguars more usual source of inspiration — its famed cars from the 1960s, such as the E-Type and MkII Saloon. The company has — unsuccessfully — tried to play new tunes on those old models before, and so the thinking now is that Jaguar should ‘copy nothing’ and try to break new ground. In a sense, Jaguar has been here before — the E-Type looked like nothing that the company had previously done outside of the racing C-Type and D-Type, while the E’s replacement, the XJS, was astonishingly avant-garde for the time, when it was launched in 1974, and indeed it took almost two decades for that car to become a genuine sales success.
How long will this new Jaguar re-invention be given to succeed? Probably not two decades, and more like five years or thereabouts. If this doesn’t work, word from within Jaguar is that the brand will be discontinued, and Land Rover will be left to get on with its steady profit-making.
The good news is that early word does seem to indicate some initial success. It has been rumoured that a group of high-end car buyers was shown Jaguar’s plans some time ago, and put down deposits without ever having seen a final production model.
Speaking at the Miami event to show off the Type 00 concept car (pronounced Type Zero-Zero, as doubtless the owners of the James Bond franchise, always prickly about others using the Double-O phrase, have been in touch) Adrian Mardell, Chief Executive Office, JLR, said: “The magic of Jaguar is close to my heart – an original British luxury brand unmatched in its heritage, artistry and emotional magnetism. That’s the Jaguar we are recapturing and we will create the same sense of awe that surrounded iconic models like the E-type. Our journey is already underway, guided by our original ethos to Copy Nothing – and the results will be spectacular.”
Under the dramatic blunt-ended shape, the JEA platform is said to be cutting edge in electric car terms, with ultra-fast charging — up to 321km in 15 minutes of charging — and a range of up to 770km. The concept’s wheels are 23-inches in diameter, and along with the blanked-off rear windscreen (replaced by a ‘Clearsight’ rear-facing camera and screen setup) they are likely to be the parts of this car that are closest to production reality.
Constantino Segui Gilabert, Chief Exterior Designer, Jaguar, said: “Jaguar is no place for ordinary. When you see a new Jaguar for the first time, it must have a sense of awe, of never having been seen before. Type 00 commands attention, like all the best Jaguars of the past. It has a dramatic presence, channelling a unique spirit of British creativity and originality. It celebrates art and embodies the essence of Exuberant Modernism.”
The butterfly-hinged doors open to reveal an exceptionally minimalist interior, shorn of traditional Jaguar wood and leather. Instead, you will find brass (including three long brass spars that run the length of the cabin), woven materials including pure wool, and even stone.
Tom Holden, Chief Interior Designer, Jaguar, said, “Just as on the outside, deployable technologies are a hallmark of the interior. Screens glide silently and theatrically from the dashboard, while powered stowage areas slide open softly on demand, revealing hidden splashes of exuberant colour. We believe technology should enhance the modern luxury experience, not dominate the architecture, and the digital screen at the centre of the dashboard is an example of this philosophy.The Clearsight display replaces the traditional rear-view mirror, improving overall visibility.”
To change the car’s driving modes, Jaguar has come up with something rather kitsch — a panel in the outside of the bodywork opens, when the car is unlocked, to reveal a ‘Prism Case’ which contains three totems, made of brass, travertine, and alabaster. Inserting one of these totems into a slot on the dashboard activates a particular driving modes. Fingers crossed that doesn’t make it through to production…
As with all other current Land Rover and Jaguar models, the man entrusted with this dramatic brand re-invention has Irish roots. The family of Gerry McGovern, who has been in charge of Jaguar and Land Rover design for some time now, hails from Leitrim, and he said: “Type 00 is a pure expression of Jaguar’s new creative philosophy. It has an unmistakable presence. This is the result of brave, unconstrained creative thinking, and unwavering determination. It is our first physical manifestation and the foundation stone for a new family of Jaguars that will look unlike anything you’ve ever seen. A vision which strives for the highest level of artistic endeavour.”
What happens next? Well, doubtless another explosion of ‘Not My Jaguar’ commentary on the duller outer reaches of social media, but beyond that the production four-door ‘GT’ model will be shown at the end of 2025, entering production in 2026. By then Jaguar will have cut down its global dealer network, condensing it into exclusive ‘stores’ located in some of the world’s major cities. The first is due to open in Paris.
After that, we shall see just who, and how many, are prepared to lay down their money on this new sort of Jaguar. Hopefully, it will be many, as one thing the hubbub surrounding this re-invention of Jag has shown is that the brand still means a great deal, to many.
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