Jaguar kills off its model line, with no clear plan for the future

[edwest4]

Jaguar kills off its model line, with no clear plan for the future

Jaguar insists a fantastic new luxury electric sedan is in the works. A finished design was reportedly scrapped shortly before its planned debut.

www.freep.com

 

[scautomoton]

Oh there's a definite plan, they've just not announced it yet

 

[Grey Havoc]

Oh there's a definite plan, they've just not announced it yet

We hope.

 

[scautomoton]

There is, I've seen the prototypes but cannot give more details

 

[EwenS]

This was announced to investors back in July. Note the low sales of Jaguar models v Land Rover models. And the lack of profitability, not helped by the models being built by Magna Steyr in Austria. That company is now itself in trouble with the loss of other manufacturing contracts.

Jaguar to axe five models ahead of 2025 re-birth

Jaguar has confirmed that five models, including the electric I-Pace, will be axed within the next year.

www.fleetnews.co.uk

Not helping is the threat of UK Govt penalties from this year if companies do not reach a target of 22% of car sales being of EVs. £15k per car under that limit. And the limit goes up each year from now until 2028.

https://www.gbnews.com/lifestyle/cars/electric-car-discounts-prices-plummet-by-third-britons-handed-record-ev-discounts

 

[Rhinocrates]

Jaguar's plan. I'm dubious - it's hard to break into the top of the luxury sector, but fingers crossed.

Jaguar: EV concept in December, then no new car sales for a year | Autocar

Brit brand sticks with plan to go all-electric and is months away from scrapping entire line-up

www.autocar.co.uk

Short version: concept for 4-door GT revealed in December, eventual three-car lineup of that car's production version, a Bentley-Bentayga-rivalling SUV and a Rolls Royce Flying Spur-sized limo.

They released this teaser of the concept car some time ago. It's a rear view, showing a sharp shoulder line and a flare over the wheel arch. Rumour has it that it like some Polestar models, it has no rear window.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Related news, Bentley has released a teaser of their first full EV, an 'urban SUV' with GT range, smaller than a Bentayga and due 2026. A concept version will appear sooner. The profile suggests that it will take some cues from the (very) limited edition Batur coupé. The render is an artist's impression with no official links but seems reasonable.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Cost, weight, and range anxiety are considered reasons for the slow sales of EVs after the early adopters and several manufacturers have either delayed their transition to fully electric (Bentley, for example, from 2030 to 2035), or expressed scepticism overall (Toyota, which is also exploring hydrogen). Solid state batteries and more efficient motor technologies (such as axial flux - https://www.thedrive.com/news/why-axial-flux-motors-are-a-big-deal-for-evs) are expected to help bring weights down and allow substantially increased ranges. Jaguar's plan looks very risky right now but miiiiight pay off in the longer run as these technologies become available. I don't think that it'll be easy for them though.

 

[Scott Kenny]

Not helping is the threat of UK Govt penalties from this year if companies do not reach a target of 22% of car sales being of EVs. £15k per car under that limit. And the limit goes up each year from now until 2028.

https://www.gbnews.com/lifestyle/cars/electric-car-discounts-prices-plummet-by-third-britons-handed-record-ev-discounts

Why do I see these penalties destroying what remains of the UK car manufacturers, because there's just not enough demand there for EVs?

 

[EwenS]

Why do I see these penalties destroying what remains of the UK car manufacturers, because there's just not enough demand there for EVs?

Not just the UK is affected. The EU has similar rules. A few months ago figures of €15 billion in penalties being levied on manufacturers by the EU. There is now some pushback from individual countries within the EU about the economic effects on companies with manufacturing plants there. Japanese car makers are also badly affected, Toyota for example seemingly preferring hybrids to pure EV.

In the UK there are multiple worries for potential EV buyers, other than just "range anxuety". The public charging infrastructure is not there and is v
ery expensive to use. It's alright if you can charge at home and tap into cheap tariffs but with so much of the UK population living in flats (apartment blocks to those in the US) that just isn't possible. So far no one seems to realise that all this extra electricity demand will need more power stations, wind farms etc and the transmission lines to move it where it is needed. And planning rules being what they are in the UK, those kind of projects take far longer than the EV targets imply.

The rules also ignore the various hybrid technologies, hydrogen etc. But that is what happens when you let politicians choose the technology. Anything for today's sound bite. Highly unlikely they will be in power when the lights go out!

 

[timmymagic]

In the UK there are multiple worries for potential EV buyers, other than just "range anxuety". The public charging infrastructure is not there and is v
ery expensive to use. It's alright if you can charge at home and tap into cheap tariffs but with so much of the UK population living in flats (apartment blocks to those in the US) that just isn't possible. So far no one seems to realise that all this extra electricity demand will need more power stations, wind farms etc and the transmission lines to move it where it is needed. And planning rules being what they are in the UK, those kind of projects take far longer than the EV targets imply.

The one thing that keeps coming up with friends with EV's is that they really like them, all have drives and garages where they can get cheap charging prices overnight, some with solar as well....but the real killer is when they come to sell them on.....the hit that people are taking on them is enormous, a lot of early/earlier adopters have reached that point in the last 2 years and the shock of the depreciation on those earlier EV's has put them off buying again...remains to be seen if that depreciation continues for the current generation of cars out there at present.

 

[Hood]

Yeah the second hand EV market looks pretty rough, nobody wants a half-knackered battery that costs more than the (second-hand) car does to replace.
Plus you're more or less locked into dealer servicing still.
Plus even the smallest EV is about 10-15k more than its petrol equivalent and I don't call a £25-30k car 'cheap', even if you have a PCP deal - which is still rough because as you say, with the high depreciation costs, that sum left over at end of the PCP is likely to see you out of pocket.

Maybe we'll see a shift to a hire market or a pay-as-you-go type model? The 'classic' 3-year ownership cycle looks increasingly obsolete as a business model when you get into EV territory.

 

[Foo Fighter]

I do not see the point of rigidly sticking to one solution, politics have always been a poor metric for change butwe are stuck with the morons.

The real goal is to remove the personal transport system for the masses and frankly that is insufficient now, let alone in the future.

Yes, I know there are apostles of battery electric there but WTAF.

Eco fuels could see us with tangible improvement now with the tech we have but why spoil the good thing of friends of friends of friends and politics?

 

[EwenS]

You might find this interesting

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nZysvgm2_Aw

 

[Foo Fighter]

Thanks but, it's a utwerp video so, not really.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Thanks but, it's a utwerp video so, not really.

Harry Metcalfe is carefully unsensational and sincere. He's also well informed. I think you can make an exception.

Here's his bio:

Harry is best known for founding Evo magazine with a group of talented motoring journalists back in 1998, along with writing for Octane Magazine and Sunday Times. Harry also became an outside advisor to Jaguar Land Rover, helping with JLR Special Operations.

 

[Nicknick]

Just rebatch a Lotus SUV to a Jaguar, seems like there is no future for smart lightweight engineering and sport cars...

 

[Foo Fighter]

Harry Metcalfe is carefully unsensational and sincere. He's also well informed. I think you can make an exception.

Here's his bio:

Harry is best known for founding Evo magazine with a group of talented motoring journalists back in 1998, along with writing for Octane Magazine and Sunday Times. Harry also became an outside advisor to Jaguar Land Rover, helping with JLR Special Operations.

I know who Harry is, of all the so called 'experts' on motoring, he is the one who'se opinions I take note of and I know how much impact he has had on petrol heads like myself.

Gifted at informing without bovine comments and extraneous bull.

I will simply not sign up and login to utwerp.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Prototype spotted testing.

Jaguar’s next chapter revealed: electric four-door GT goes testing

Jaguar's new chapter begins with this electric four-door GT

www.carmagazine.co.uk

 

[GTX]

Prototype spotted testing.

Jaguar’s next chapter revealed: electric four-door GT goes testing

Jaguar's new chapter begins with this electric four-door GT

www.carmagazine.co.uk

Yuck

 

[Rhinocrates]

Yuck

Well, heavy disguise - some padding to change the silhouette (particularly around the c-pillar and rear roofline.), and a dazzle pattern to hide contours. The 'grille' is certainly fake - it just a bolted-on panel and it has a hole in it through which you can see more of the dazzle pattern. The lights supposedly will be thin strips. All we can be sure of are the general proportions, wheelbase, and most of the glasshouse.

My guess is that its body is quite high and fairly flat-sided with a sharp shoulder line and with flared fenders to emphasise the wheels. The way the A-pillar meets the roof suggests that they'll be blacked out like a Range Rover's to give a wrap-around visor effect and the glasshouse itself is very low and will have a teardrop profile. It's electric, so the long nose must have a huge frunk - enough to hold a body, perhaps. As mentioned, like some Polestar models, there likely won't be a rear windscreen.

Company spokescreatures are constantly saying that it's a 'copy of nothing' so it will be a departure in terms of style and a lot of people are going to say it's not a real Jaguar. Anyway, After December 2 we can all say 'Yuck' or not when a concept version is revealed.

A successor to the XJ saloon (the new car is classed as a GT) was under development but cancelled. Ian Callum was responsible for that design before he quit to become an independent designer. These are about the best images of that car available.