Jaguar Land Rover’s chief executive officer (CEO), Adrian Mardell, has said more about how much the company’s new electric models could cost.
The cost of one of Jaguar’s new electric vehicles in more likely to be in the region of £150,000 (€181,000) than the £100,000 (€121,000)already anticipated, according to Jaguar Land Rover CEO, Adrian Mardell.
The boss of the car giant also revealed that the cost of developing its new all-electric models could be around £1.5bn (€1.81bn), which will span over the next five years.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Jaguar’s parent company, had earlier said that the electric vehicles would be priced above £100,000.
The latest information was revealed in an interview with The Sunday Times. If the car does end up costing that, it will be about three times more expensive than Jaguar’s F-Pace SUV, with the company potentially needing to sell about 30,000 of these new models per year to break even.
The company earlier revealed it would be stopping the production of almost all its current models by the end of the year, in order to focus more on its all-electric models.
However, with difficult sales over the past year, as well as declining consumer demand for European brands and higher competition from Chinese rivals, the move is being seen as risky by clients and investors alike.
Jaguar will be producing three new electric models, with the first one expected to be available from 2026 onwards. These are anticipated to be an SUV, a four-door grand tourer and a saloon car, with the grand tourer expected to come first.
The company recently launched a new design vision concept at Miami Art Week. This was a concept car, named the Type 00, and which the company says is aimed at representing Jaguar’s new creative philosophy and design rebranding while also highlighting how it plans to change the electric vehicle (EV) market.
The concept cars will not be available for sale, but instead, are only being used to represent what Jaguar’s upcoming all-electric models may potentially look like.
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said in an email note: “Jaguar want to shake up the market and shake up their buyer pool, aiming for more affluent motorists who might in the past have plumped for Porsche or Bentley but could be persuaded to switch allegiance if the product was suitably desirable.
“It used to be said all publicity was good publicity, but that was before the din of social media which allows everybody to share their opinions and Jaguar’s strategy could be a huge bomb if its new concept car doesn’t set pulses racing.
“Whatever the final version looks like, Jaguar have made people look, and if they can persuade enough of them to buy into the hype when the first of its new models rolls off production lines then its strategy will be studied and potentially copied in the years to come.”
Jaguar’s rebranding and design concept draw backlash
Jaguar’s design vision concept was launched as part of an overall rebranding attempt by the company, where it seeks to prepare itself to focus more on electric vehicles. This rebranding is also an effort to appeal to younger generations of customers, as well as redefine innovation and luxury.
The company has reclaimed its “Copy Nothing” ethos, inspired by its founder, Sir William Lyons’ words, in this rebrand, which includes a new logo and monogram. The iconic “growling cat” logo will now be replaced with a “leaping cat” one, with the company’s name also being written as JaGUar from now on.
However, buyers have been less than impressed, with several claiming that this rebrand may damage the brand’s heritage, perceived luxury and sophistication, as well as its customer loyalty, in an attempt to be perceived as more progressive.
The upcoming electric cars that the concept car is supposed to represent have also been deemed as too expensive, especially in the current highly competitive market.
A new advertisement which had models but no cars was also slammed, as an advertising stunt which may potentially alienate key customers.
