GOING EV ISN’T THE REAL CHALLENGE FOR JAGUAR

WHAT OTHER option did Jaguar have but to go all-electric, given the UK’S ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030? Even with a once seven-strong product range, its annual global sales didn’t top 200,000 – less than 10% of BMW’S. However much of the market it has covered off, Jaguar has remained a global minnow.

Now everything must go. No existing product will be directly replaced; each will be retired at the end of its current lifecycle. Even the new XJ, which was pretty much ready to go, ironically as an electric car, has been cancelled. This is bold stuff.

So what happens next? If the decision to make Jaguar an electric brand feels a no-brainer, the real boldness lies in repositioning Jaguar as a luxury brand, not a ‘mere’ premium one.

To compete in this rarefied area of the market, building cars that are great to drive and look at isn’t enough. The cars must be truly class-leading in every area: connectivity, desirability, quality, reliability and the dealer and ownership experience. These are tough nuts to crack even if you’ve been doing it a long time as a known luxury name, let alone a brand looking to trade up and reinvent itself.

A big challenge lies ahead for Jaguar, then, but with it a clear ambition and a future. It has been a long while since we’ve been able to say that.