Luxury car maker Jaguar has unveiled its new electric concept car and, like a recent controversial teaser video, it has divided opinion.
Some on social media said the new Type 00 car is “exciting” and “absolutely stunning” while others called it “rubbish” and told Jaguar’s designers to “go back to the drawing board”.
The carmaker, which is embarking on the biggest change in its history, announced a new logo and released a so-called “social media tease” last month, ahead of its relaunch as an electric-only brand.
Many critics pointed out that the promotional video did not feature an actual car but the firm was also praised by some for its bold new approach.
Last month, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) stopped selling new Jaguar cars in the UK ahead of its relaunch as an electric-only brand in 2026.
Sales of its cars have been plummeting in recent years, and some have argued that as its traditional, heritage image does not seem to be working, the rebranding is a gamble with a limited downside.
Following the deluge of publicity following last month’s teaser video, Jaguar urged people to “trust and reserve judgement” over the rebrand of the business, which has a history dating back more than a century.
The Type 00 model unveiled at a Miami art fair is a concept car and so will not go into production for sale to the public.
However, it gives a pointer to the direction of the brand’s new models, which are expected to cost in excess of £100,000 when they go on sale.
Jaguar’s chief creative officer, Gerry McGovern, said he welcomed the attention the new direction had been getting.
“It has already stirred emotions and it will continue to,” he said. “Jaguar has no desire to be loved by everybody.”
Car industry analyst Karl Brauer was sceptical. The company seems to be “sacrificing Jaguar’s past to the hopes of a better future,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to work.”
Many on social media said the new model looked similar to existing cars, and James May, broadcaster and former presenter of Top Gear, said he was “slightly disappointed” by it.
“I wanted something more futuristic,” he told the . “I mean, Jaguar have been saying they will copy nothing, but there’s quite a bit of other concept cars in that new Jag.”
‘Too big’
Beatrix Keim, director at the Center of Automotive Research, said that Jaguar’s concept car was “too big, too unreal”.
“This is not the way to go,” she said, given that there are already big cars in the market and “electric cars cannot only be for the rich”.
“Of course, Jaguar is a luxury brand,” she added. “But I don’t think that this is the direction which Jaguar at current point of time needs, because it’s losing out on volume as well. And this is not a volume car.”
Amanda Stretton, a racing driver and motoring journalist, also agreed the Jaguar concept car was too big.
“It’s an absolute nonsense,” she said. “It needs to be shrunk by about 50% to be practical.”
But Andy Palmer, a former boss of Aston Martin and Nissan’s ex-chief operating officer, said Jaguar needed to change as it “has been failing as a brand for a long time now”.
He called the new design “a brave change of direction” although he agreed it was “huge”.
“The rhetoric around electric cars has to be one of how you move the cars to being more affordable,” he said. “Jaguar is an outlier.”
Getty ImagesMs Stretton also said Jaguar was going in the “wrong direction” on price.
“The market for cars in excess of £100,000 is not enormous. So Jaguar’s trying to break into a market that’s already tightly fought.”
Mr May said Jaguar cars had traditionally been “very reasonably priced compared with, for example, Aston Martin”.
“So I’d like to see something well more like half the price that they’re toting at the moment.”
JLR said the decision to stop selling new Jaguar cars in the UK last month was a deliberate move to “create some breathing space” before unveiling its new look.
It announced the transition to electric vehicles in 2021, keeping all of its three British plants open as part of the strategy.
Jaguar has been the weakest link within the JLR group, which has been owned by Tata Motors for almost a decade.
Jaguar sold 180,000 cars in 2018, but last year sales were down to 67,000.
The Range Rover and Land Rover Defender were behind JLR’s highest profits since 2015, which were announced earlier this year.
