Rawdon Glover, managing director of Jaguar, is the man charged with steering the beloved brand through its rebirth – and it hasn't all been smooth sailing.
After Autocar finished riding in the brand's 1000-plus-bhp electric GT for the first time, we sat down with Glover to discuss the rebrand and what comes next. This is what he had to say...
Is this first new-gen Jaguar now finished?
"It's nearly finished. You rode in a prototype of the production car, and we've now built around 150 prototypes of the finished car to complete all the testing we need to do: aerodynamics, crash testing, dynamics and much more. That's very well advanced."
How would you define the driving characteristics of the new Jaguar?
"We're really excited about its dynamic character. We went back through the best Jaguars of the past to isolate their best driving features. They have things like power in reserve, comfort at high speed, refinement, a quality of being always engaging without being out-and-out sports cars. We think 'GT' is the right description for this car."
Another phase of the launch starts today. How will the reveal proceed?
"We'll take the covers off the production model next summer, but there will be a variety of build-up activities leading up to that. Deliveries should start around the end of the year."
Are we still right to quote a price of £120,000?
"We believe the core price will be £117,000 to £120,000 but there's a design vision that owners who choose the highest-output model and take advantage of the opportunities we'll provide to personalise their cars could pay £150,000 or more. There's a big gap between the top of the premium car class at about £110,000 and the uber-luxury class Bentley and Rolls at £200,000 and more. That gap is where we're aiming."
You seem to have rediscovered your heritage again. How will you use it in future?
"A lot has been made of how we've used our heritage. The past is vital after all, we're in our 90th year but perhaps we haven't explained well enough that Jaguar shouldn't want to repeat itself. It's not in our DNA. Look at the step from E-Type to XJS. One of my key learnings since we first showed the Concept 00 a year ago has been that we didn't take enough time to explain why Jaguar had to change. When you lay that out clearly, people tend to get it."
You're appointing far fewer Jaguar dealers. How many?
"We'll have roughly 20% as many as we did in the UK, chosen largely by region. We had almost 100, but with the lower volumes and high prices we aspire to, we don't want too many dealers delivering too few cars."
When will you reveal the car's name?
"We've given some pretty good hints already. The naming of our concept car was pretty directional. The word 'Type' is of huge significance at Jaguar. The use of 'zero zero' indicates a reset. We'll be more specific in the early part of next year."
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I find all the negative comments amusing. Some likely from the anti EV, anti woke brigade. Some from people with ulterior motives for attacking the Jaguar brand. Some likely from disgruntled Jaguar owners, dealers or employees, who feel left behind by a pretty significant repositioning of the brand.
From the ride reviews, and those who've seen the finished production vehicle, it sounds like it's going to be an impressive car. Is there are large enough market for it now that the EV mandate is slipping backwards? That I'm not sure. Was it smart to ditch the entire previous model range before establishing the new more expensive Jaguar in a new market niche? Unlikely. But that doesn't mean this the new model won't be a proper Jag, nor won't be an impressive car, in its own right.
Yes, it does sound that it's engineered brilliantly, as Jaguars were before but the likes of Clarkson wouldn't stop criticising. Until he then buys his own F-Type after the one he had on Grand Tour refused to break down, and now they're the best cars ever!
You could criticise the looks of the new car, and I think you'd be right to. Secretly, I kind of like it.
But the real criticism I have is the whole plan, and the dumping of all their exisiting customers (McGovern says they're too poor for his designs, or words to that effect). I don't think they were wrong in the market segment they were in, but the marketing was awful. Could only say how beautiful they were without giving you a reason why you should buy one. And the "evil" adverts? Fun, but everybody really wants to be the hero.
I'm sure it will be a great car, because there's too many really great engineers in Jaguar to do anything but that, but commercial success? Nope. And if anything, they've still go the same useless marketing department to hold them back.
I find it all extremely amusing. There won't be a Jaguar (as such) by 2028, the Chinese will likely have it. JLR did this all by itself. It will go down in automotive history on how to collapse your own company. It was a PR disaster, the car is just crazy, the price is crazy, and their ambitions laughable (as they simply are not a premier manufacturer).
Land Rover are about to compete with themselves yet again (Freelander/baby Defender/Evoque) and that proves beyond any doubt that the management team haven't a clue what they're doing. As I said, all very amusing.
"The naming of our concept car was pretty directional. The word 'Type' is of huge significance at Jaguar. The use of 'zero zero'
The New Jaguar Type-O.
There, I've revealed it! Now, if only autocorrect would fix Jaguar as they still need to find a competent CEO.
They're targeting to have only 20% of the dealers they had, for a car they are aiming at Bentley, tells you enough. They've decimated the company, and even then their ambitions are beyond the reality of the situation. They'll be lucky to keep that 20%.
Claiming the problem is they didn't explain their plan to customers sufficiently is pompous arrogance. The market is about to teach them a lesson.