British car giant Jaguar has revealed its new electric concept car and, like a recent provocative video, it has polarised opinion.
On social media some describe the new Type 00 car as ‘exciting’ and ‘absolutely stunning’ while others described it as ‘rubbish’ and told Jaguar’s designers to ‘start again’.
The carmaker which is on the brink of the most significant transformation in its history unveiled a new logo and posted a so-called ‘social media tease’ last month before it rebrands as an electric-only manufacturer.
Some critics noted that the promotional video did not include an actual car but the firm was also hailed by some for its new thinking strategy.
Last month, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) ceased supply of new Jaguar models in the UK before it goes fully electric in 2026.
Its car sales have been declining in the recent past and some have opined that since its traditional, heritage look does not appear to be helping it, rebranding is a roll of the dice with minimal risk.
After the flood of attention received after the teaser video posted last month, Jaguar called for people to trust and not judge the rebranding of the business, which has been in existence for over a hundred years.
The Type 00 model introduced at a Miami art fair is a concept car and therefore will not be produced for the market.
However, it provides a clue as to the direction that the new models of the brand will be taking once they are released to the market, with the company planning to sell them at above £100,000.
Jaguar’s chief creative officer Gerry McGovern stated that he was glad the new direction was attracting so much attention.
“It has already raised feelings and it will do so in the future,” he said. Jaguar does not want people to love them or like them.”
Car industry analyst Karl Brauer didn’t buy into it. He said the company is ‘trading Jaguar’s past for the promise of a better future.’ ‘I don’t think it’s going to work.”
Some of the people in the social media said that the new model resembled other cars and James May, the broadcaster and the former presenter of Top Gear said that he was ‘slightly disappointed’.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “I wanted something more futuristic.” “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 ig’
Beatrix Keim, a director at the Center of Automotive Research, criticized that Jaguar’s concept car was “too big, too unreal”
“This is not the way to go,” she said, when there are already large cars in the market and “electric cars cannot only be for the rich”.
“Of course, Jaguar is a luxury brand,” she added. But I do not believe that this is the path which Jaguar requires at the present time, because it is also losing volume. And this is not a volume car.”
Racing driver and motoring journalist Amanda Stretton also thought that the Jaguar concept car was too large.
‘It is an absolute nonsense,’ she said. “It needs to be shrunk by about 50% to be practical.”
However, Andy Palmer, the former chief of Aston Martin and Nissan’s former COO, observed that Jaguar has been struggling as a brand for quite some time now.
He described the new design as “a brave change of direction” but he said it was “huge”.
“The narrative around electric cars has to be one of how you get the cars to the market at a cheaper price,” he said. “Jaguar is an outlier.”
Ms Stretton also said Jaguar was going in the “wrong direction” on price.
The market for cars over £100,000 is not very large. So Jaguar is attempting to enter a segment that is currently very competitive.
Mr May said that Jaguar cars had been “very reasonably priced compared with, for instance, Aston Martin”.
“So I would like to see something well more like half the price that they are toting at the moment.”
JLR explained that it deliberately ceased selling new Jaguar cars in the UK last month to build up anticipation for the car’s new look.
It declared the shift to electric vehicles in 2021 while retaining all its three manufacturing facilities in Britain as part of the plan.
Jaguar has been the least performing brand within the JLR group, which is owned by Tata Motors since 2010.
Jaguar sold 180000 cars in 2018, but last year it managed to sell only 67000 cars.
The Range Rover and the Land Rover Defender were instrumental in JLR’s highest profits since 2015, which were declared earlier this year.