Jaguar's reimagining is designed to push the British automaker into super luxury territory. Its entire lineup has been chucked in favor of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs).
The first one will come to market in 2026. It will be an all-electric, four-door grand touring car. The sedan will ride low to the ground and be designed to be comfortable enough to take on long journeys.
Global managing director Rawdon Glover explained to gathered media members at an event in England that the company is taking Jaguar to its roots, back to the "wow" factor, when Enzo Ferrari called the Jaguar E-Type, "the most beautiful car in the world."
He said the company will copy nothing, going in a completely different direction from current electric vehicles. The company provided spy shot-style teaser images of the camouflaged car.
Jaguar will show a concept car pointing to this new direction next month during Miami Art Week.
The company, which sold just 8,348 vehicles last year, expects its customer based to shrink as its transforms into its newest iteration. They were not specific about how much retraction they expect to see as a result of the new positioning and lineup.
Thus far, all-electric super luxury cars aren't doing well in the market, though that may change by the time the new Jag comes to fruition. The Rolls-Royce Spectre is underselling its targets, according to insiders, and the Mercedes-Benz EQS and Lucid Air have struggled to capture the large customer bases their brands had hoped for.
Jaguar is putting massive effort into the new car knowing just how important it will be given it signals a new era for the automaker.
"It put huge demands on our engineering team, but actually ones that I think have driven a completely different way to collaborate, because it is, it's a different way of doing things. I think it's forced them into really thinking differently, to be creative, and use every ounce of their engineering ingenuity," Glover told Newsweek.
He said that his designers don't resent the challenge, they relish it. And that they are passionate about the importance of that design integrity and ensuring that many of these new elements are included.
"They are absolutely passionate about that and delivering it. When Gerry [McGovern, Chief Creative Officer, JLR] talks about a new era of collaboration, everything else wouldn't work any other way in terms of if they weren't able to collaborate and find ways through those problems," Glover said.
Future Jaguars will wear a new design mark with the leaping cat embossed over strikethrough bars. That same strikethrough pattern, with lines of color separated by black or LED lighting, will be a universal feature on all Jaguar vehicles and "hewn into the design."
Jaguar's all-electric range for the vehicle could be as high as 430 miles the company told Newsweek.
What is Compass Viewpoint?
Jaguar’s Ambitious Plans Are a Big Risk
Jaguar’s rebrand isn’t just ambitious, it’s a big risk. And, the company will be facing an uphill battle as it works to win over buyers who are comfortably entrenched as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Bentley loyalists.
The new exclusive four-door will have plenty of electric luxury cars to contend with. The Lucid Air sedan checks many of the same boxes as the Jag GT. Other rivals include thePorsche Taycan (starts at about $100,000 and has a range of around 300 miles) and the Mercedes-Benz EQS ($100,000-$150,000 with a range of around 350 miles). The Tesla Model S is also a part of the conversation with a range of about 400 miles and a starting price of $90,000.
The new Jaguar vehicle is due in late 2026, a full two years from now. Customers will have more rivals to choose from by then.
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