The Internet Has It All Wrong About Jaguar's Rebrand
I sat down with Jaguar's Managing Director to understand their business strategy. It's not as crazy as the internet thinks.
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The Internet Thinks Jaguar Has Forgotten Its Heritage
By now, you’ve probably seen the commercial advertising Jaguar’s rebrand. You may have even seen the blue Type 00 prototype. And, if so, you’ve almost certainly come up with your own opinion of the rebrand’s eventual success.
The internet is sure that Jaguar is making a mistake. The internet is wrong.
Look, I’m not going to tell you that Jaguar’s electric reboot will succeed. But it’s important to evaluate the brand, not from a viral ad that they made, but from a business standpoint. And the internet just doesn't know how to do that.
Jaguar invited me to Monterey Car Week last month to meet their management team and experience the Type 00 for myself. And I had the opportunity to sit down with Rawdon Glover, Managing Director of Jaguar and one of the key guys in charge of Jaguar’s reboot. The conversation was eye-opening.
To set the stage, this is what people still think Jaguar is. It's an early 1960s E-Type. And it's glorious.
Now that you know how beautiful a Jaguar can be, I’d like you to consider these two questions.
- Have you purchased a new Jaguar in the last 10 years?
- Do you know anyone who has purchased a new Jaguar in the last 10 years?
The answer to those questions is likely no. Jaguar was a brand in crisis. And it’s not because they’d forgotten their heritage, as so many say. The recent F-Type was a great car that made all the right noises and looked great. Jeremy Clarkson owns one. It’s a proper Jag that follows in the footsteps of the E-Type.
The other thing you should know about Jaguar is that it’s not a standalone company. It’s part of Tata Motors (TTM) , one of the largest car companies in the world, with 2025 FY revenues of more than $50 billion and profits of $2.7 billion operating globally, according to Reuters.
Tata’s luxury division is called Jaguar Land Rover, JLR for short, because it’s made up of those two brands. Thanks to sales of high-end Land Rover and Range Rover SUVs, the division is profitable, too. So much so, that Tata feels comfortable budgeting $18 billion for the group’s R&D over the next five years.
Additionally, you may have heard that the automotive industry is at an inflection point. Vehicles are becoming software-defined and electrified. The Trump administration may slow down the transition in the U.S., but it will continue globally. In twenty years, assume that a majority of cars sold in the world will be electric and many will be autonomous.
As a car person, I’m here for it. I love the instant torque and smooth power delivery that EVs provide. Charging at home, off solar, is cheap and easy. My daily driver is, and will continue to be, electric. And, I will continue to own and race gas-powered cars that excite me.
As for autonomy, every car person should cheer it. There are so many bad drivers on the road who hate driving. Let the computer take over for them. It’s a win-win.
Let’s sum up where we’re at.
Jaguar is a failing brand with a rich history and a wealthy sibling (Land Rover) that can throw it a part of an $18 billion lifeline. But that lifeline doesn’t come without strings. Jaguar will need to consider that the next generation of vehicles will likely be electrified (including hybrid and EV), and software defined.
Jaguar's Strategic Options
If you were the CEO of a company that included one failing brand among several successful brands, what would you do?
One option is to stick your head in the sand. Just continue down the same path and hope that buyers suddenly notice you. But why should they?
Another option is to walk away. Just turn out the lights and close the door, like General Motors (GM) did with Saab during the financial crisis. I’m still not over that. Where’s my oddball Swedish car??
Alternatively, you could pivot the failing brand. Develop a new business plan for it that plays to its strengths. Fund the new business with profits from an existing business. And use that new business as a way to test the strategies and technologies you hope will power the future of your entire business. You wouldn’t worry about alienating your current customers because you didn’t have any!
This seems to be what JLR is doing now. I don’t know if it will work, but it’s better than management sticking their head in the sand or walking away. I prefer a world with a new age Jaguar to one with no Jaguar.
So, Jaguar’s on the right path. Are they executing the strategy correctly?
This is what’s got people so upset.
Yes, it’s a bunch of androgynous people wearing bright clothing. It was weird, triggering for some, and it succeeded beyond imagination. You weren’t talking about Jaguar last year. Now you are. Even bad press is good press.
The Type 00 concept car is controversial, too. No, it’s not pretty, like Jaguar’s of old. But it’s distinctive, like the kind of car a evil villain would drive.
Paint it gloss black and stick a Rolls Royce mascot on the front and nobody would blink. It could be cousins with the luxury brand’s Spectre EV.
On top of that, Audi just announced its concept for an upcoming sports car and from the side, it looks like someone at Audi copied their homework from team Jaguar.
Will Jaguar succeed? I don’t know. But with that background out of the way, let’s jump into my conversation with Rawdon Glover, Managing Director of Jaguar.
One-on-One With Jaguar's Managing Director
In our meeting, Glover detailed Jaguar’s plans. Many people think that Jaguar has ignored their heritage. On the contrary, Glover says that Jaguar has a history of reinventing itself. The company’s founder, Sir William Lyons, said that a Jaguar should be a copy of nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. The car that put Jaguar on the map, the 1948 XK 120, copied heavily from the prewar BMW 328 Mille Miglia race car. But it was beautiful, fast, and less expensive than the Ferraris and Aston Martins that it competed against in the marketplace.
Enzo Ferrari is alleged to have said that the E-Type was the most beautiful car ever designed. Rather than carrying on the lineage of the XK series that preceded it, it looked more like a modernized version of Jaguar’s 1950s D-Type racing car. Again, that car was sold at a lower price point than the premium cars it competed against.
What Glover told me is that his team looked back at Jaguar's history for times when the company was most successful. And they found that it was when they sold a smaller range of vehicles at an elevated price point.
Jaguar should make beautiful sports cars and sedans with a focus on value and not volume. In this case, value is relative; it does not mean cheap. Expect the new range of cars to cost around $130,000, vs. an average of $65,000 for a Jaguar today. That puts Jaguar in competition with top-level BMWs, Mercedes, and even Tesla (TSLA) .
Jaguar also needed to find a new audience. The traditional audience had become too narrow and was aging. The target audience will be younger. This isn't dreaming on Jaguar's part. The average age of a Rolls-Royce buyer is now in their mid-30s.
Glover said that these new buyers should be interested in design, and independently minded with a desire to drive a vehicle that stands out. They would need to be open to EVs.
The first car, which should be announced in early 2026, will be a four-door GT, that will be true to Jaguar’s heritage. Glover says that it will be a halo car that announces the return of Jaguar and indicates that “Jaguar is now transacting in that sort of very, very top end of premium entry… luxury space.”
The car will also be driver-focused, with 1000 horsepower and a significant range, like 400 miles on a charge. Plus, it has to drive like a Jaguar. The chassis engineers have worked hard to build in the performance feel that is expected. The entire team wants owners to have a sense of occasion when driving it. Like the car is special, and that they are special, too.
From a tech perspective, the new Jaguar must appeal globally. Chinese consumers expect a higher level of technology than consumers in the U.S., and the car will be able to meet both sets of consumers where they are.
In the end, Glover said that Jaguar is a brand with 90 years of heritage, but that it is not a heritage brand.
Final Thoughts
I have no idea if this reboot will succeed. However, like many of you, I hadn’t cared about Jaguar since the launch of the F-Type, and, like many people who might’ve considered buying an F-Type, I’d have probably bought a Porsche instead. That's no longer the case.
Thinking about Jaguar not as a brand, but as part of a portfolio, I applaud this decision. If it works, JLR and Tata will have rebuilt a brand that car people loved, and saved it for the next generation. This will help keep the historic Jaguars, the XK120s and E-Types on collectors’ minds.
It will also provide a rolling test-bed for the next generation of electrified and software-defined vehicles, which will benefit future Land Rover and Range Rover vehicles. Jaguar will be the first mover and pass down its lessons learned to its sister brand.
If they fail, the internet will be proven correct. But who cares what the internet thinks? It's not like they had been paying attention to the old Jaguar.
