The Jaguar boss has defended the carmaker’s decision to stop producing and selling new cars for a year ahead of its bold transition to electric vehicles.
The British brand has stopped producing all petrol and diesel models for the first time since the Second World War, ending its 102-year relationship with the internal combustion engine.
This comes ahead of its switch to battery power from 2026 and its dealers closed their order books to new customers last week, leaving Jaguar with no new cars on sale.
CEO Rawdon Glover said this week that the 12-month pause in the market has always been part of a “strategic decision” and “not a mistake,” and Jaguar wants a “rest” period for dealers and customers. Prepare for your electric brand change.
Jaguar is now completely reliant on its used car retail network to survive the next 12 months.
Jaguar CEO Rawdon Glover (pictured) defended the company’s decision not to sell any new cars for 12 months as it prepares to become an electric-vehicle-only luxury brand from 2026.
Last week, the entire Jaguar dealer network closed order books to new customers
While many automakers have curbed their ambitions to go electric this decade, Jaguar is bucking the trend.
Its headstrong approach will gain momentum next month when it unveils a concept version of the first all-new electric vehicle that it will fully unveil before the end of next year.
In preparation, it has already finished manufacturing existing models, with the British-made XE and XF sedans and the F-Type sports car ending production in June.
Assembly of the E-Pace also concluded in late summer, while a JLR spokesperson confirmed to This is Money in October that Jaguar had also stopped making right-hand drive F-Pace SUVs for the UK market.
Production of its only electric car, the I-Pace, which was built in Graz, Austria, at the same plant where the E-Pace was built, has also stopped, although some new models will remain available to corporate customers until early 2025.
It means Jaguar has stopped all car production for the first time since World War II.
Jaguar stopped producing all gasoline and diesel models before switching to electric power.
Production of the right-hand drive F-Pace SUV ended in October
Glover said the year-long exit from the new car market was part of a scheduled “break.”
Next Tuesday, Jaguar bosses will shed some light on the brand’s new brand identity and how it will address the dramatic turnaround of the business.
Ahead of the announcement, Glover said the year-long exit from the new car market was part of a scheduled “break” to “give customers and dealers a chance to reset as we move into this new era for the brand,” according to Car dealer magazine.
In a statement given to Coach Last week, a Jaguar spokesperson said: “From November 2024, sales of new Jaguars will come to an end ahead of the introduction of our new brand later this year and product launch in 2026.
“While we have stopped allocating our current generation of Jaguar vehicles, we have a selection of models available to purchase as approved used vehicles through our UK retail network.”
This is Money has approached Jaguar for comment.
Jaguar’s decision to stop selling cars means it is now completely reliant on its used network
Many automakers have curbed their electric ambitions, Jaguar is bucking the trend
Jaguar is driving in a different direction than its rivals
Jaguar’s decision to press ahead with its electric transition is a stark contrast to some of its biggest rivals.
Last week, Bentley became the latest to backtrack on its commitment to electric vehicles, confirming it had delayed its plan to become an all-electric car company by five years to 2035. It also said its first all-electric car that will arrive in 2026 will not be a slim model. luxury coupe but a large, premium SUV.
In September, Volvo announced that it would not become an all-electric car brand from 2030, as it had previously promised.
The Swedish brand, which is now major competition for JLR in the premium vehicle segment, said it now aims for 90 to 100 percent of its global sales to be purely electric or plug-in hybrids by the end of the decade.
Bentley confirmed earlier this week that its plan to sell only electric vehicles from 2030 would be delayed.
Volvo Cars chief executive Jim Rowan (pictured) said in September it had become clear that “customers and markets are moving at different speeds of adoption” towards electric cars.
Luxury carmaker Porsche also announced this fall that it would delay its plans as a result of the transition to electric vehicles taking longer than it thought.
It has softened its targets for 80 per cent of sales to be fully electric by 2030 and confirmed it will continue to sell the current Cayenne SUV with combustion engines over the next decade.
In recent months, Toyota has confirmed it will significantly reduce its electric vehicle production volumes by 2026, while the Renault boss said carmakers were not on the “right trajectory” to go fully electric by 2035, the date EU proposal to ban new petrol and diesel cars. , five years after the deadline set by the United Kingdom.
Ford bosses said in July that it won’t go all-electric in 2030, despite claiming it would do so by February 2021.
Aston Martin has also said it is delaying the launch of its first electric vehicle in response to declining demand for new electric cars.
The industry’s massive pullback on electric vehicle promises also comes against a backdrop of brands cutting prices on their existing electric cars in an effort to boost sales, announcements of extended life cycles for gasoline cars and some brands temporarily closing battery vehicle production lines due to shortage. of the demand.
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