At first glance, it might seem like the end of days at Jaguar. The brand has been hemorrhaging models as of late, ending production of the XE, XF, and F-Type in mid-2024 and continuing to cull the lineup with the departure of the I-Pace and E-Pace towards the end of the year. This sort of downsizing would normally be cause for concern, but it’s all part of a larger strategy that will see the storied automaker reinvent itself as an all-electric brand. The plan, dubbed Reimagine, will see Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) invest $19 billion in new EV development over the next five years with the goal of modernizing its fleet for a changing market.
Jaguar isn’t just all-in on the all-electric future. It’s also looking to reestablish its presence at the upper end of the luxury segment. Over its 90-plus years in the market, Jaguar made its name one of the industry’s most prominent luxury brands. However, a recent shift to (slightly) more affordable, mass-market vehicles has led to an identity crisis for the famed British automaker. In a bid to increase profitability, Jaguar had abandoned its rarefied reputation in favor of a new volume-based approach that saw the brand enter the so-called mass premium market. That strategy hasn’t really paid off, inspiring Jaguar to refocus its effort on a higher-price, lower-volume approach that it hopes will drive enthusiasm.
This isn’t Jaguar’s first foray into the EV segment. When the brand discontinued its XJ sedan in 2019, it initially planned to replace it with a new all-electric flagship based on Range Rover’s MLA platform. That potential nine-figure investment never panned out and has largely left the company playing catch-up in the EV segment. The E-Pace and I-Pace EV crossovers served as sufficient stop gaps, but a lack of profitability and all-electric driving range now has Jaguar returning to the drawing board to plot a new path forward. What does the future hold for Jaguar, and when will the brand’s new generation of EVs hit the market? We’ll answer all that and more as we explore the Reimagine plan in detail.
Mass Premium No Mas
Jaguar’s mass market strategy wasn’t entirely misguided. The brand logged record-high US sales as recently as 2017, moving almost 40,000 units thanks to the popularity of the E-Pace and F-Pace crossover SUVs. Jaguar followed up on this success with another SUV in the form of the I-Pace, the brand’s first all-electric model. This success wouldn’t last, with sales steadily declining from 2017 onwards. By 2021, the company’s US sales would fall back below the 20,000 mark and hit a 20-year low of 8,300 units by 2023.
The sales slump has forced a reckoning at Jaguar, leading the automaker to question the mass premium strategy altogether. Priced between $50,000 and $74,000, the Jaguar crossover prioritized affordability over those qualities that had long defined the brand. “We got to the point where volume became the predominant,” said Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) CEO Adrian Mardell in mid-2024. “We are not in mass premium. We tried to get into mass premium. That didn’t work too well.”
For Jaguar, the problem was two-fold. First off, there’s the issue of size. While Jaguar was right to see the crossover SUV segment as a fruitful hunting ground for new sales, the company failed to anticipate just how much size matters. The brand’s subcompact and compact SUVs generated some excitement and record sales, but the lack of larger options stymied Jaguar’s attempt to carve out a profitable slice of the popular crossover market.
“The market shifted quite a bit,” said JLR CEO Joe Eberhardt in a recent interview. “We had three sedans, and the market went to 80 percent SUVs.” The luxury segment has been largely insulated from the massive drop-off in sales that’s wracked the mainstream sedan market, but Jaguar’s newer models simply lacked the history and reputation of some of the market’s best performers. “Whatever market was left [for sedans] was defended by those that have been there for a long time, which gives them scale advantages, cost advantages, and loyalty advantages,” said Eberhardt.
The automaker’s second problem is a perceived lack of exclusivity. The new breed of higher-volume, lower-price Jaguar SUVs might have helped the company temporarily drive sales, but they also put the brand’s high-end reputation at risk. In an attempt to develop its mass appeal, Jaguar might have accidentally mortgaged the very thing that makes the brand so special in the eyes of its longtime customer base.
“We realized that while the current portfolio is beautiful—they’re absolutely wonderful, very competitive cars—they lost a little bit of the special DNA that made Jaguar different from anything else that was out there. If you look back at the glory days, those were really unique vehicles. We need to get back to that DNA to find that mojo and build cars that are not necessarily for everyone but that are distinct, unique, and a copy of nothing. And that’s what the new portfolio will do,” said Eberhardt.
A Renewed Emphasis on Luxury
Jaguar is now nixing the mass premium strategy in favor of an all-new, all-electric lineup. The company will abandon its five existing models, which Mardell described as “lower value, lower transacting [and] close to zero profitability,” in favor of three new EVs that are positioned firmly at the upper end of the segment. The automaker will also slash overall production, aiming to produce as few as 50,000 units worldwide as part of the Reimagine plan.
This new generation of “reimagined modern luxury Jaguars” will kick off with the four-door electric GT sedan that will mark the debut of the company’s new Jaguar Electric Architecture (JEA) platform. Early reports indicate that the GT will provide around 400 miles of range and be priced at around $127,000, which marks a notable uptick over the relatively value-oriented I-, E- and F-Pace models. The outgoing F-Type sedan provides a better comparison, but the new GT will still ring in a good $10,000 higher than even the fanciest F-Type model.
McGovern has indicated that the GT will have a “jaw-dropping” design that immediately distinguishes it from your garden-variety EV, not to mention 400 miles of range and a rumored 600-horsepower engine that would make it the most powerful Jag in the company’s long history. The GT’s all-electric design will also allow for plenty of acceleration-enhancing torque, which sounds like a solid recipe for some thrilling performance. The GT will start rolling off the production line at Jaguar’s Solihull, UK factory in late 2024 and make its way to customers by early 2025.
Jaguar plans to follow the GT with a second EV model in late 2025 and another in 2026, though details remain scant on the specifics. According to some sources, we know that the forthcoming vehicles will be based on the same JEA platform and are likely to include an SUV and a sedan that could possess “limousine-like proportion[s]”. In addition to allowing the company to respond to market trends and reestablish its luxury focus, the pared-down lineup will also free up some crucial funds that can be used to support the more profitable Land Rover side of JLR’s business. Models like the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Defender currently drive most of JLR’s sales and represent about 3/4 of the automaker’s backlog of orders.
The boutique approach has worked well for a number of high-end automakers, including Jaguar’s countrymen in Rolls-Royce and Bentley, but only time will tell if Jaguar will find the same success in the exclusive segment. Embracing a new all-electric lineup will help Jaguar meet the changing demands of an increasingly EV-friendly customer base. While the approach offers some substantial benefits regarding high-performance design, the lower volume strategy isn’t without its risks. The GT holds the potential to reignite enthusiasm for the Jaguar brand, offering drivers an ideal mix of performance and luxury that could well put the company on a firmer financial footing and drive interest in the two other coming EV models, but it all comes down to how many of those 50,000 units find their way into new homes. Luckily, Jaguar has plenty of time to reinvent itself. With Land Rover driving most of JLR’s sales and enjoying a relatively strong run over the last few years, executives hope that Jaguar’s brief catnap will reinvigorate the brand and better position the company for the future.
