2019 Jaguar XJ Full-Size Sedan: Electric-Only.

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Interesting. I can imagine its going to cost a fortune being all electric but the target market probably wont mind. The XJ hasn't been a big seller at all compared to its competitors so I guess a change of angle was what they are going for, give it a unique selling point. Hope they get rid of that bus rear end!
 
Very interesting. I always thought of Jaguar as one of the most traditionalist car companies out there. Should be a decent rival for Tesla, can't wait to see it.
 
Rendering of what it could look like:

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I couldn't find this topic covered anywhere and it's old news by now but I'm just learning about it after reminiscing over what could've been with the Sony EV. This thread's quick death was an omen, clearly. The near-complete Jaguar XJ EV officially died back in February.

What we thought was an annoying but inevitable, forward-thinking, and entirely relevant plan to beat Mercedes, BMW, and Audi to the full-size EV sedan market - and all the news the past few years of Jaguar going full-EV for every model - has been scrapped. Apparently Jaguar is giving up on the middle-luxury market altogether, actually. They're going to reinvent themselves as a super-premium performance luxury brand like Porsche and Bentley.

Pretty wild turn of events in my opinion. It makes sense though, as Jag's sales has faltered, but super-premium brands with low volume and high prices do seem to feed off massive profit margins and are apparently immune to global financial crises. We all have our own opinions on increasing income and wealth disparities across the globe but the evidence is clear: Brands like Porsche, Bentley, Lambo, Ferrari, Mclaren, et al, are all booming and expanding their product lines in both directions. In many cases they're actually financing new volume products with extremely limited-production special editions, the sale of just a few being enough to finance an entire car's development.

But apparently Jag is going to do this with EVs. Interesting choice since Bentley and Rolls-Royce in particular don't seem to have any immediate EV plans ready to roll, unlike Porsche which has already produced two good ones, in fact the best EVs on the market besides Tesla. But while an opportunity exists, seizing it apparently means scrapping tens of millions of dollars worth of ground-up EV development which seems like more than just a punch in the gut. Perhaps what was going to be an XJ will actually be rebranded as the more affordable option, while a real XJ EV will be pushed toward Bentley Continental territory?
 
I couldn't find this topic covered anywhere and it's old news by now but I'm just learning about it after reminiscing over what could've been with the Sony EV. This thread's quick death was an omen, clearly. The near-complete Jaguar XJ EV officially died back in February.

What we thought was an annoying but inevitable, forward-thinking, and entirely relevant plan to beat Mercedes, BMW, and Audi to the full-size EV sedan market - and all the news the past few years of Jaguar going full-EV for every model - has been scrapped. Apparently Jaguar is giving up on the middle-luxury market altogether, actually. They're going to reinvent themselves as a super-premium performance luxury brand like Porsche and Bentley.

Pretty wild turn of events in my opinion. It makes sense though, as Jag's sales has faltered, but super-premium brands with low volume and high prices do seem to feed off massive profit margins and are apparently immune to global financial crises. We all have our own opinions on increasing income and wealth disparities across the globe but the evidence is clear: Brands like Porsche, Bentley, Lambo, Ferrari, Mclaren, et al, are all booming and expanding their product lines in both directions. In many cases they're actually financing new volume products with extremely limited-production special editions, the sale of just a few being enough to finance an entire car's development.

But apparently Jag is going to do this with EVs. Interesting choice since Bentley and Rolls-Royce in particular don't seem to have any immediate EV plans ready to roll, unlike Porsche which has already produced two good ones, in fact the best EVs on the market besides Tesla. But while an opportunity exists, seizing it apparently means scrapping tens of millions of dollars worth of ground-up EV development which seems like more than just a punch in the gut. Perhaps what was going to be an XJ will actually be rebranded as the more affordable option, while a real XJ EV will be pushed toward Bentley Continental territory?
Interesting strategy they're going for. It's really no secret Jaguar has an image problem; despite their vehicles as of now being in the same price as BMW/Mercedes/Audi, and being of pretty good quality and value as well, Jaguar's sales are quite far off from them. Even the E-Pace and F-Pace CUVs have always sold pretty poorly. Don't even get me started on the sedans. Part of the problem is that many car buyers perceive Jaguar as an "old persons brand"; the same issue faced by Cadillac and Lincoln, regardless of how good their products may be. The dreary, Ford Mondeo/Taurus parts-bin X-Type and S-Type of 15 years ago probably tarnished the brand's reputation to some degree, and given its staid and conservative styling, the XJ was always a big hit among the older generation. Though, I feel like Jaguar choosing not to make a large, powerful EV sedan is a bit of an enigma, considering that the Taycan and E-Tron seem to be doing quite decently.
 
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Jaguar's current brand identity is so vague that I forget they are still around sometimes. Can't blame them for wanting to reposition themselves, but I don't think it's going to work.
 
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