Jaguar kills everything.
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Jaguar has announced it will cease production of all their current models this June. Except for the I-Pace which will stay alive for a few more months.
While quite shocking news, this is actually not a surprise since they’ve already declared a while ago they would become an EV-only brand by 2025, with 3 all-new electric models. There will be no overlap and none of the current models will be available by then. This makes their current welcome page on their US site even more ridiculous and sad with its “The New Era” tagline. It seems that the “new era” won’t last long. As a matter of fact, it only has a few months…
The first new model will be the EV sports sedan they already announced and teased last year. (All we know is a predicted $ 125,000 starting price and a 430-mile range). Although, the teaser above was released back in April of last year. Almost a year ago, and nothing since. Nothing… No other teaser or news. Zilch from a brand that is supposed to re-invent itself by next year could be seen as worrisome. But they’ve done it before. A few years ago a new electric Jaguar XJ replacement was on the verge of being announced when it got abruptly canceled. I just hope this isn’t the case with that new sedan we haven’t even seen yet.
As far as we know, the plan is to launch the sporty sedan, then a large luxury SUV, and finally a larger electric sedan that would be competing against the BMW i7. All of these planned models will be a major move upmarket for Jaguar. A name most buyers have totally forgotten about, as it has become the Infiniti of European luxury brands.
As you can see in the 2nd photo, their current models all start at a much lower price. About half of what the cheaper new EV will be. Which seems a bit crazy and almost a sure one-way ticket to more future financial trouble. I guess they see themselves as a sub-Bentley brand. Which is what they used to me decades ago, before the dark times.
I love Jaguar as much as everyone, and all I can say is: good luck to them. I really hope they know what they’re doing.
I didn’t realize they were actually still in business. Seems like they did better under Ford, than Tata. Not much better, but still better.
I always thought the I-Pace should have been named the E-Pace. Makes no sense to me. Lol
The reporting on this has been a bit vague. Jaguar are closing their Castle Bromwich plant which makes the XE & XF sedans and the F-TYPE sportscar. Castle Bromwich will be refurbished for the coming EV models. They are also soon to close their engine plant but will stockpile an amount of engines. These will be used to keep building the E-PACE and F-PACE SUVs which come out of a different factory. The I-PACE EV is built by Magna Steyr in Austria. So there are actually the SUV models that will be available until the new EV models come into production.
Per Google, jaguars aren’t yet extinct, but are “near threatened.” I’d say that sums it up.
Jaguar, as well as all the other luxury brands in the $60k to $160k range, have a hard time because our awful automotive press will essentially ignore them because they aren’t German. Maserati, Aston and Alfa are in the same boat. To a lesser degree, so are Infiniti, Acura and Lincoln. Cadillac and Lexus have their own customer base to where they aren’t as affected by the biased car journalists. The bias against non-German brands is so strong that many people simply forget these brands exist. What Jag is trying is risky but might work – go higher end, expecting to sell fewer cars, but at higher margins.
This announcement is kind of sad, actually. Jaguar knows it has enough inventory to coast through until 2025 without building any more. That says all you need to know. I don’t see how a hard launch to becoming a total EV brand overnight is supposed to work. Launching multiple all new models in a short window on a new platform? Educating consumers about multiple new models all at once?