Can Jaguar Be Saved?

Jaguar's Type 00 concept

As a British car owner and enthusiast, I have watched the drama around Jaguar play out over the past few months, but I haven't put virtual pen to paper to add my two cents. And I know it's a bit premature to conduct a postmortem while the patient is still alive. But a recent article in AutoExpress proved to be the tipping point, with that little voice in my head asking, "What are they thinking?" Let's look at some of the statements from Jaguar managing director Rawdon Glover...

1. "The message got lost in a social media firestorm." There are literally thousands of experienced communication professionals out there, even if you limit your pool to those with automotive experience. Social media is not a new concept, and there have certainly been plenty of blowups and missteps in the past(remember BMW's OK Boomer tweet?) that should have informed Jaguar's communication strategy. And the recent news that Jaguar's internal design team said, "We felt that the logo disconnects from the narrative and the visual identity of the Panthera products" should have sent up a big red flag about how this should (and shouldn't) have been communicated.

2. "We’re sorry we alienated our core customers." Well, admitting there is a problem is the first step on the road to resolution, right? But I am baffled that the response generated by the logo, the ad, and the car came as a surprise to Jaguar's leadership team. Now, I don't have any market research data to tell me what people think of Jaguar, but I find it hard to believe the brand is burdened with so much negative baggage (we're talking Yugo levels, here, apparently) that literally nothing was worth retaining. Except the "leaper", every visual, audio, and tactile element, and everything connected to the brand promise, appears to have been tossed out. Other brands and nameplates have rebooted themselves and managed to reflect their heritage with an appropriately contemporary product.

3. "We’re comfortable selling 33,000 cars – and fewer." Of course, increasing the price will cut your volumes, but AE is right on the money here in noting that they sold 33,000 cars at the current price point. That number will plunge with a higher proportion of six-figure price tags on top of the EV-only portfolio (and more on that in a moment).

4. "The old Jaguar wasn't working, so it's time for change." A clever brand evolves with its customers and market trends- and so it sounds like this wasn't happening. But what's missing from the discussion is why the old Jaguar wasn't working. Could it be... I don't know... product neglect? The XE and XF ran for nine years, while the F Type ran for an astonishing 12 years, all with relatively minimal changes along the way. Is it any wonder that interest in the brand has waned?

5. "The teaser video wasn’t intentionally woke, it reflects Jaguar’s design." Obviously, some people saw a group of diverse, oddly dressed young people and cried, "Woke!"--but I do agree that Jaguar didn't actually plan that. Similary, though, they shouldn't have been surprised at the reaction, given that the video was clearly throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

6. "We’re launching with a Jaguar that’s purist, not populist." Er... what now? Shouldn't all Jaguars be for purists and not for populists? Isn't that the point of charging six figures for a new car?

7. "We will not u-turn on Jaguar being purely electric." Controversial, yes, but if (big if!) you have a successful business case with accurately forecast volumes, and you're sharing showrooms with a brand (Land Rover) that also offers ICE vehicles, then you're not leaving dealers high and dry. And the fact that the electric Rolls-Royce Spectre outsold every other entry (including the Cullinan SUV) in Europe last year suggests there may be a group of people with a lot of money who want a super-luxury EV.

That brings us to the Type 00 and the follow-on renderings that attempt to demonstrate what a four-door production-intent version might look like. "Copy nothing" is not a horrible place to start, and you could argue the original E-Type epitomized that philosophy - so it's not out of line with Jaguar's heritage. But Sir William Lyons also referred to Jaguar's having grace, space, and pace, and I only see one of those (pace, due to the EV powertrain) in the Type 00. The VW Thing and Tesla Cybertruck arguably copied nothing, too, but no one would call those vehicles beautiful- and I think "beauty" is a key element of the Jaguar brand promise.

So, can Jaguar be saved? Frankly, I think we are too far down the road to change course significantly. I'm assuming the "GT" and its two siblings (reportedly a more traditional saloon and an SUV) are likely "baked", as are all the badges and such. The only thing left is the actual communication and marketing strategy to launch these vehicles, so one hopes that Jaguar is perhaps looking to poach some seasoned marketing and communication executives to minimize any short-term damage to the brand. Let's see what happens between now and the end of the year...