Jaguar Boss Says Move To EVs Has Been 'Hugely Frustrating'

Jaguar will stop selling cars in the U.K. for a full year while transitioning to its electrified era. The brand will cut the number of models in its lineup to just three and elevate its image to super-luxury status. A new Jaguar concept car is coming before Christmas

Jaguar has been pretty radio silent on the whole move-to-EVs thing lately. Despite getting a jump on the industry with its then-revolutionary I-Pace in 2018, the brand hasn't really kept up Joneses—now the marque is playing catch-up.

Jag's brand is changing. It has been on a journey of self-discovery for a few years with its new managing director, Rawdon Glover, at the helm since 2023. Glover is in charge of reinvigorating the brand, but that hasn't come without its own challenges.

"It’s been hugely frustrating—saying we’re going all EV then 'nothing'," admits Glover in an interview with BBC's Top Gear.

Ever since Jaguar made the decision to go all-electric, the brand has been faced with a decision: continue with the status quo, or face its declining sales head-on by reinventing the brand. It chose the latter.

Jaguar plans to do this by following through with its commitment to electrification, which is a bold move considering many automakers are backing down on their EV plans. It has also reportedly been in the talk with Chinese automaker Chery to utilize its EV platform for future vehicles, which could help to ease into its next generation of fully-electrified vehicles. Its sole EV so far, the I-Pace, was built by contract manufacturer Magna, not at one of Jaguar's own factories.

Glover says that Jaguar will also be elevated from a premium brand to a super-luxury brand that won't lift a finger unless it can sell one of its models for more than $155,000 (or right around 120,000 British Pounds). He references luxury handbag maker Hermes as an example, noting that nobody needs the luxury bag, but if sister-brand Range Rover can rake in the sales by positioning itself as an "irrational need," then surely Jag can too.

"It’s not just some new cars, it’s a complete brand reinvention," said Glover. "With every decision we make, we ask 'is this going to make people think about Jaguar the way we need them to?' If it doesn’t make them want to pay £120,000 we don’t do it."

The hard part is what Jaguar will need to do to get there. For starters, it means not selling any cars on its home turf for more than a year.

That's an unorthodox move for any carmaker. Not moving a single unit in your own backyard is daunting, both from a revenue and brand image standpoint. Plus, the company has plenty of stores in the U.K., which will have no Jaguar models to sell. But considering what Jaguar is trying to achieve—and the fact that the brand has had no new models in five years—Glover sees it as necessary to move forward.

"We decided on this structure in 2021, but cars don’t appear overnight," says Rawdon. "We need to take [the brand] back to when we made beautiful desirable cars, not in huge numbers and not having huge numbers [of models] in the portfolio."

Admittedly, there's no playbook for the move Jaguar is looking to make. Cutting its portfolio down from eight total ICE and EV model variants (globally) to just three could confuse or alienate many customers, especially considering the new models will be more expensive. Nevertheless, the brand says that it's committed to offering a whole slurry of white-glove services to tailor the buying experience to the customer, so maybe it does have something up its sleeve.

The first glimpse into Jag's future will be an upcoming $100,000 four-door GT sedan. That concept is expected to debut before Christmas and will represent the first chalk mark on Jaguar's clean slate.