When Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) revealed that they were embarking on an ambitious and expensive rebranding campaign last year, the firm made it clear that it was treating this as an all-or-nothing play. The program saw the company not only shorten its name to JLR, but also split Land Rover’s models into individual brands. One other item that flew below the radar up until now is the full electrification of Jaguar which will also simultaneously push the brand upmarket as JLR attempts to compete with Bentley and Porsche.
A new report suggests that Jaguar will start its EV revolution with a new GT that promises to set the standard for how the company will carry its ambitions moving forward.
Raising The Bar on Price and Luxury
Jaguar has had its fair share of ups and downs over the years but this twist will see Jaguar ditch its current marketing strategy for a setup that will revolve around the Jaguar Electrified Platform (JEP) which will be a leap forward over the half-hearted and slow-selling I-Pace that the company has now. The “JEP” platform will underpin three new EVs with Jaguar reps saying to the folks at Automotive News that the trio will help make Jaguar models feel unique again.
This uniqueness has always helped the brand have a distinct character when compared to other luxury car brands. However, this unique edge has also contributed to the brand having lower sales numbers and a reputation for poor reliability. The new platform is aiming to shake that monkey off Jag’s back and rumors have suggested that it will benefit from some of the lessons that the company learned on the I-Pace.
Of course this higher degree of engineering will come with a noticeably beefier price tag. Jaguar is ditching its old pricing plan and trim ladders in the future and will instead focus on intentionally appealing to a higher clientele with the new GT reported to have a base price of $125,000.
Not The First Time
While Jaguar’s plans to go fully into EVs is a milestone moment for the brand, this is not the first time that the brand has put a renewed focus on targeting premium buyers. When Ford brought Jaguar under its wing in the 1990s, the brand attempted to revamp its image and did a similar effort. No EVs were involved, but the company chose to focus on providing buyers with models like the XK8 and even attempted to produce a supercar with the XJ220. While the XJ220 turned out to be a controversial blunder, the broader mission was a success and it helped the Brtish brand roll through the decade before it was sold to Tata in the 2000s.
It will be interesting to see if Jaguar’s EV aspirations will help produce long-term fruit, but the stakes are high and Jaguar knows it needs all the pieces to fall into place to help engineer a comeback. The company says that the model will make its debut at a future event but Jaguar didn;t say exactly where with the company only confirming that it will be in a key market for the brand.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.