Jaguar, the leading brand of British luxury car manufacturer JLR, has recently unveiled its concept electric car as the vehicle of the future. After the recent teaser or video of Jaguar’s future electric vehicle was released, Jaguar fans and users are making different comments about this concept car on social media.
Some call it a magnificent car with a strong future, while others consider it a fantasy and unrealistic.
Jaguar has currently named this concept car the Type 00 car.
Some on social media said Jaguar’s new Type 00 was ‘interesting’ and ‘stunning’, while others called it ‘absurd’ and asked Jaguar’s designers to ‘go back to the drawing board’ and rethink their new design. However, the carmaker says it knew it would get a mixed reaction and that’s what it wanted as the company looks to revamp the brand to help Jaguar’s declining sales.
Jaguar boss Rowden Glover told the BBC that ‘Jaguar needed to make a bold decision (i.e. the change to the car) to reach its customers.’
He said he aimed to restore Jaguar’s reputation as a luxury brand.
Jaguar has long been the weakest link in the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) group, which also makes the Range Rover and Land Rover Defender.
Jaguar sales have fallen from 180,000 units in 2018 to just 67,000 last year.
Last month, JLR stopped selling new Jaguar cars in the UK altogether, but the luxury carmaker is set to return to the industry in 2026 and launch its first electric vehicle.
The company has now unveiled a new logo. The teasers for the new model do not show any cars, but they do feature some fashion models wearing bright colors.
Many people are criticizing this advertisement and are asking only one question: ‘Do you sell cars?’
However, many people have also criticized the absence of the Jaguar logo, which is considered the identity of this car, from the upcoming new model of Jaguar, because now the logo that is the identity of Jaguar is not visible on the car in the upcoming model.
Jaguar company head Glover says that this new debate about the car logo has attracted a large number of people.
He says ‘So just because of all this … our strategy was successful.’
He says ‘We do not want to ignore any of our customers at all … But I would say that the most important thing for us is that we need to attract new customers to keep the Jaguar brand alive for the next 90 years.
JLR expressed its interest in producing electric vehicles in 2021 and has continued to build vehicles at all three of its UK plants.
The company says “The decision to stop selling new Jaguar cars in the UK last month was made after much thought and the reason behind it was that the company wanted to return to the market with a new look and a new style, it was a deliberate move.”
The Type 00 model presented at the Miami Art Fair is a concept car and will not be made for sale to the public.
Instead, the vehicle, which has an extremely long bonnet and large wheels, points to the direction of new models from the brand.
Glover said, “We’ve broken some rules” with Jaguar’s new design, which also aims to highlight the brand’s past when it was at its peak.
The rebrand comes with a higher price tag, with Jaguar aiming for the luxury market.
“Nobody needs a £120,000 car,” he said.
But many on social media are not happy with the company’s vision.
Broadcaster and former Top Gear presenter James May said he was “a bit disappointed” with the design and its price.
He told the BBC ‘I was waiting for something that was very near the future. I mean, Jaguar claimed that they would not copy any other car or model, but what did they do with this car that was not in other cars on the market at the moment?’
May mentioned that Jaguar cars have generally been more affordable compared to brands like Aston Martin.
‘So I want to see something else at half the price of what they are doing at the moment’.
‘The volume of the car is very large’
Beatrix Keim, director of the Centre of Automotive Research, says that ‘Jaguar’s upcoming concept car is ‘very large in volume, and unrealistic.’
This is not a new strategy to enter the market, as there are already large vehicles available, and electric cars shouldn’t be exclusive to the wealthy.
He added, “Of course, Jaguar is a luxury brand. But I don’t think the path Jaguar has chosen is the one Jaguar needs.”
Racing driver and motoring journalist Amanda Stratton also said she felt Jaguar was going in the “wrong direction” on pricing.
“The market for cars over £100,000 is not very big,” she said. “So Jaguar is trying to enter a market that is already struggling. The size and shape of Jaguar’s upcoming car is “pretty ridiculous.”
“The company needs to reduce it by about 50 percent in practical terms.”
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