► First look at new Jaguar concept car
► Days after new brand identity unveiled
► Insta post reveals ‘Exuberant Modernism’
If Jaguar wanted to drum up publicity galore for its landmark concept car being unveiled next month, it’s certainly going about it in a bold fashion. First they announced the interim end of UK car sales, then they showed off the new brand identity – and now a solitary teaser image has landed on Jag’s Instagram page, revealing our first look at the new show car.
It shows a radically styled concept and the rear angle suggests there will be no back window, just like the Polestar 4. Crisp lines dominate the design, highlighted by a liquid silver paintjob to accentuate the geometric, almost Teutonic shapes, while a heavily straked rear deck adds visual width to the stance of the car. Jaguar calls the new design direction Exuberant Modernism and it doesn’t look like any Jag that’s come before…
The social media post says simply: ’02 Dec 2024 Miami. Copy nothing,’ underlining the concept car’s planned debut in a couple of weeks Stateside.
Jaguar is clearly planning a protracted dripfeed campaign; within hours of the first post, it dropped a follow-up of a copper, pop-out door handle, complete with new-look leaper mascot.
Jaguar’s new corporate identity for a new, all-electric era
As part of Jaguar’s reinvention, it earlier this week released the brand’s all-new identity, sparking some controversy with its mix of upper and lower case letters (below). The brand has conducted a ground-up recreation of its brand, logo and future design vision as it accelerates towards becoming more of a grand and luxurious car maker – no longer targeted at Audi and BMW, but rather Bentley and luxury rivals.
‘This is a reimagining that recaptures the essence of Jaguar, returning it to the values that once made it so loved, but making it relevant for a contemporary audience,’ says JLR chief creative officer, Gerry McGovern. ‘We are creating Jaguar for the future, restoring its status as a brand that enriches the lives of our clients and the Jaguar community.’
Jaguar’s whole suite of logos have been reinvented, including a controversial new mixed-case font for the script on its cars and a circular logo called the ‘artist’s mark.’ On top of that, the brand has redesigned its famous ‘leaper’ – the jaguar animal that is arguably the most memorable element.
‘Jaguar was always at its best when challenging convention,’ says Jaguar MD, Rawdon Glover. ‘That ethos is seen in our new brand identity today and will be further revealed over the coming months. This is a complete reset. Jaguar is transformed to reclaim its originality and inspire a new generation. I am excited for the world to finally see Jaguar.’
The news comes not long after official ‘spy shots’ of Jaguar’s new GT were revealed, giving us our first look at the first new-age production car (see below).
Jaguar EVs: the plan, the reset
‘For the majority of its history, Jaguar has operated in the luxury space,’ Glover has previously told CAR magazine. ‘It was renowned for making beautiful vehicles, very desirable, aspirational vehicles. In the last 25 years or so we’ve perhaps been in the more volume premium space, that’s not the place we think we should continue to play in.’
Jaguar is instead targeting sales of just under 100,000 units globally for its first car – a four-door GT that should cost around £100,000, so Porsche Taycan money. ‘It’ll be significantly elevated from where we are today,’ the MD admitted. ‘We’re taking Jaguar back to its rightful place. We will end up with a much-reduced range.’
The transformation is underway, now that Jaguar’s current combustion and hybrid models have been retired before the new era begins. ‘Everything we sell today will wrap at different points around the globe,’ confirmed Glover, speaking earlier in 2024. ‘Probably starting the earliest will be the end of this calendar year.’
The new platform, called JEA (Jaguar Electric Architecture), is exclusive to Jaguar and is not currently used anywhere else in the JLR group. The battery will eventually come from parent company Tata, but Glover said there would be ‘an interim solution until they come on stream.’
How powerful is the new electric Jaguar GT?
Power will vary depending on the trim selected, but the top SVR-equivalent model will develop around 1000PS or 986bhp, CAR understands. As a result, the four-door GT will be the most powerful roadgoing Jaguar ever made.
‘We think there’s a number of people who will want the most power, the greatest acceleration and the greatest V-max [top speed] capability and all of those things,’ said Glover. He predicted that 10% to 15% of the brand’s new customers will come from the higher end of other JLR products, while other prospects will likely be a younger, more urban audience – and one with multiple cars already on the driveway. ‘There will be a large focus on conquest sales,’ confirmed the Jaguar boss.
EPA range should be in excess of 700 kilometres, so around 430 miles. Rapid charging means Jaguar is targeting a recharge to 80% in just 20 minutes. The new architecture will likely be 800 volts, though it’s not yet confirmed.
Formula E tech transfer
Jaguar has stepped up its performance in Formula E for the past three to four years, but until now has been unable to properly leverage its success – and technology – into its road-car programme. That looks set to change, with the new JEA platform already benefitting from know-how learnt in the all-electric race series.
‘The big opportunity for us is the tech transfer,’ revealed Glover. ‘For example, our use of silicon carbide, transmission fluid, what we’re doing in terms of how we’re managing heat on the chipsets, that’s all directly going through onto the new vehicles. There are lots of things where it gives us a real headstart, and that’s part of the reason we’ve got such a such credible EPA range on the vehicle.’
The new family of Jaguar vehicles will be produced and designed in Solihull, with plans to create the tooling and infrastructure to build them already in motion. Volume production is not expected until 2026.
A new, bolder design
The new platform will be wrapped in an entirely new design language for Jaguar, which Glover says is unlike the streamlined, cab-forward EVs that other brands are currently trending toward. And Jaguar is starting with the four-door GT first, as it’s the ultimate canvas for the brand’s new, bold design.
‘It’s the purest interpretation,’ Glover said of the first model. ‘All of the vehicles have a very consistent design family feel, but in terms of the purest, we felt as a brand statement, starting with four-door rather than the highest-volume seller was the right place to start.
‘They all have great driving characteristics,’ said Glover of the new range. What’s more, the hip-to-knee position of the new four-door GT will be identical to that of the current F-Type: ‘It’s not an out-and-out sports car, but it’s a beautiful GT touring car, which we felt would give us the right driving position.’
The Jaguar leaper will remain, albeit in a more modernised form and the SVR trim is expected to survive the transition to EV. Jaguar will also offer a similar level of bespoke feel to other brands in the same premium space. A bespoke service or super-limited runs will be a key part of the new product cycle.
The new Jaguars will be ‘exuberant, fearless and jaw-dropping,’ added McGovern, JLR’s creative director and design leader earlier this year. The inspiration is Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons’ philosophy that Jaguars should be ‘a copy of nothing’. Which might explain why the brand has wiped its Instagram page and wiped the slate clean.
What about the other electric Jaguars?
Glover was tightlipped about what form the next electric Jaguars would take, but hinted that we should ‘look to where the volume market is for EVs in excess of $100,000 in terms of in terms of the bodystyle.’
That’s almost certainly code for an SUV and smaller crossover, especially considering that brands such as Bentley and Porsche pop up in conversation regularly.
What about the timing?
‘As we get towards the second half of this year [2024], we will start to be much more public about the brand itself and how the Jaguar brand is going to change,’ Glover told us earlier this summer. ‘So in terms of the design language that basically will effectively underpin all Jaguars to come, we will show it at the end of this year.’
The four-door will be shown at the end of this year or the beginning of the next one, with deliveries in North America at least to begin in Q4 of 2025. By 2026 the second model will be revealed.
‘We can’t just change the product, we’ve got to change the whole brand world,’ concluded Glover. ‘We’ve got to change the way you position it, the way you market it, we’ve got to change the way we sell the car, the type of experiences we have in the retail network.’
We’ll update this article when we know more.