Jaguar reveals radical new electric car after controversial rebrand
12/02/2024 08:37 PM
After receiving widespread criticism for a bold rebrand last month, Jaguar has unveiled a preview of its next generation of circa-$200,000 electric cars due next year.
The next generation of Jaguar cars – due next year, and eventually planned for Australia, with electric power and much higher prices than previous models – will draw inspiration from this polarising Type 00 concept.
After recording slow sales in pursuit of the likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar is ‘rebooting’ its brand with a new range of ultra-luxurious, more expensive electric cars aimed at Bentley and Porsche.
Last month it unveiled its new branding, which was met with widespread criticism online from fans, some comments likening it to a “makeup brand doing [a] redesign” and having “killed a British icon”.
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Jaguar executives have defended the rebrand, calling it a “complete reset” – and the company’s design boss allegedly assuring UK journalists the company has “not been sniffing the white stuff – this is real.”
Now the British car maker has unveiled a concept car that will preview the bold design of its future models, the first of which is due in overseas showrooms next year – and will come to Australia.
Reprising a slogan from company founder Sir William Lyons, Jaguar says its intention is to “copy nothing”, and create distinctive vehicles which stand out from a growing sea of luxury electric vehicles.
The Type 00 concept is a sleek, low-slung, two-door coupe, but the production model range will include more rational vehicles with four doors.
MORE: Opinion – The Jaguar rebrand deserves praise, not scorn
First to launch is expected to be a four-seat ‘GT’ sports sedan aimed at the Porsche Taycan – promising up to 770km of claimed WLTP range – tipped to be followed by an SUV-like vehicle, and a larger flagship sedan.
Plans for Australia are yet to be confirmed. Just 581 Jaguars were reported as sold locally last year.
Prices are set to start from £100,000 ($AU200,000) – about how much the company’s most expensive cars today cost, and similar to a middle-of-the-range Taycan.
An annual sales target of about 50,000 vehicles has previously been proposed – down from 61,000 Jaguar sales in 2022, though the new cars are expected to attract greater profit margins given their higher prices.
The show car wears bluff, slab-sided styling unlike any other Jaguar, with rectangular front and rear ‘grille’ treatments, 23-inch alloy wheels, and four-stripe LED front lights.
A short front overhang is met with a significant rear overhang – accommodating a long, sloping roof – and the distance between the front wheels and windscreen is particularly long for an electric car.
There is no rear window, rather cameras are expected to project a feed of what’s behind the car onto the rear-view mirror in the cabin, and door mirrors are replaced by pop-out cameras mounted low ahead of the doors.
It has been unveiled in two colours: Satin Rhodon Rose, inspired by pinks seen in Miami art deco architecture, as well as Inception Silver Blue, intended to honour 1960s Jaguars.
A minimalist cabin features inside, with two screens that fold up out of the dashboard, seats parted by a 3.2-metre-long brass ‘spine’, and materials such as travertine – as used on tiles – between the seat bases.
The panoramic roof is glazed – and intended to blend in with the car – while the show car wears new Jaguar badges, with a fresh ‘J-R’ symbol, a flipped version of the classic Jaguar leaper, and strike-through graphics.
New Jaguar models will be underpinned by a new JEA platform developed for the company’s electric cars.
Jaguar promises up to 770km of claimed driving range in European WLTP testing, while it has previously indicated the new cars will produce more power than any previous model from the brand – meaning more than 441kW.
It’s said the new cars will be able to add up to 321km of driving range to their batteries in 15 minutes of fast charging.
Jaguar vehicles will be sold in “a select number of exclusive brand stores for clients around the world” – the first of which will open in Paris’ 8th arrondissement, its fashion district – alongside a network of dealers.
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