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I’m crap at poker. I’ve got the kind of face that kills the game and reveals my most secret inner thoughts. I’m very lucky that I get to see new cars before most people. But sometimes it’s difficult when the cover is taken off a new car, its designers anxiously looking for signs of approval, and I can only give them a face that looks as if it smells of baby being sick.
And so, after being one of the first to hit the road in the new all-electric jaguarI was taken into the big white design studio at JLR’s Gaydon, Warwickshire headquarters, to see another camouflaged version of the car I was sitting in, and something else hidden under a crisp silk sheet. A very large, crisp, silky sheet.
bonnet longer than type 00 concept This was very much in evidence, along with the low roofline and stubby tail. The proportions and shape under the cover looked identical to the car first seen in Miami a year ago… and then the cover came off.
Now, I’m not allowed to go into too much detail about what I saw, except to say that it clearly relates to conceptIt is now a production-ready car with four doors, but still has the big wheels, It’s no less attractive and many of the show car’s amazing and unique details have made it to production,
But the thing is – it looks even better than the Type 00; More fleshed out, more interesting, and with some cool details that are more real-world than concept, but even more surprising.
You’ll be able to judge for yourself when you see the car next summer, but speaking to Andrew Wheel of the JLR design team – leading the way in the absence of JLR’s late but certainly not fired former chief creative officer. gerry mcgovern – This was a design-first project, which created more than a few challenges for the engineering team.
Wheel and his colleagues filled me in on some of the clever thinking that overcame many of those challenges – the engineering team is eager to be able to share them with the world next year – but it’s clear that no stone was left unturned in the desire to stick to the original design.
Is the new Jaguar beautiful? I don’t think so, certainly not in the traditional sense. It’s catchy, bold and I couldn’t stop staring at it. And when the cover went back on, I was disappointed – I wanted to see it again. To me, that means it’s a great piece of design.
I also took a peek inside. Most concepts have some strange elements reduced to production. But some of the best, most outrageous stuff from Type 00 has made its way inside. It’s luxury, but not as you might currently know luxury – and that’s good.
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JLR often talks about ‘modern luxury’, but I certainly got the feeling that the car was modern British. Is this what Jaguars owner Rawdon Glover was looking for? “It’s more Jaguar than British,” he says. “There are a lot of sports cars out there and a lot of sedans that are extremely comfortable, but maybe a little anonymous. So, it’s definitely a Jaguar thing.”
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Jaguar’s Director of Product and Services Marketing, Tom Bury, takes us back twelve months and reacts to the joint launch of the new Jaguar brand and the Type 00 concept. Bury said, “The response shows that people care, but it’s the next phase that’s most important. We’re still very confident.”
This also comes from CEO PB Balaji, who may have joined JLR just a few weeks ago but, as CFO of owners Tata, has been part of the project since 2021. “He’s very confident,” Bury said.
Not only has there been a change at the top of JLR, but the car market has also changed significantly since 2021, with many manufacturers pulling back from their all-electric plans. However, not Jaguar. “Every Jaguar in the future will be electric,” Bari confirmed.
He also thinks people will buy “Jaguar and design first, electric later”.
And that design for the new model, which Bary refused to even give us a hint of a name for – although I guess Jaguar Type 01 is still a possibility – was frozen back in 2021 and locked away before the Type 00 concept was designed. “The 2021 design still stands today,” Bury said.
But it won’t be until next summer that the world will get to see the new all-electric Jaguar GT and 2027 before customers get their hands on the first cars. So, has the recent cyber attack on JLR delayed things? Bury replied, “There cannot be zero effect.”
The challenge ahead is whether luxury car buyers embrace this new, very different Jaguar and put it at the same level of exclusivity and value as Bentley and Aston Martin. As everyone at JLR always reminds me, Jaguar needs to change.
From what I’ve seen so far, it looks and feels like a very distinct and highly desirable luxury car. And, at the very least, it should give it a fighting chance of success.