Jaguar sales have plummeted by more than a quarter in the last year following the legendary British car brand’s dramatic rebrand.
The company was criticized for ditching the iconic ‘growler’ badge, used for decades on grilles and hoods, and replacing it with a curved geometric ‘J’ badge.
Other controversial changes included the introduction of a bright pink concept car, which aimed to update Jaguar’s image for the electric age.
But design experts and Jaguar fans derided the makeover, calling it “cultural vandalism” and “the most destructive marketing move ever made.”
Now, new industry record figures released by parent company Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have revealed that the number of cars sold by the Indian-owned company has dropped by 12,459 to just 33,320 in 2024.
The dramatic drop came when Jaguar abruptly halted production of five existing models at the start of the year. as it develops its all-new range of fully electric vehicles, which will go on sale this year and is aimed at a much younger audience.
Meanwhile, demand for the automaker’s luxury Range Rover and Defender models soared.
The new rebrand (above) sparked accusations that the company had “woke” after releasing a car-free ad.
The ad features models boldly dressed in bright primary colors along with slogans such as “break the mold” and “create lush.”
Pictured are the brilliant concept cars unveiled by Jaguar late last year as part of its electric car review.
Laying the foundations for the restructuring, the business closed production of existing Jaguar models for UK customers, with the XE and XF sedans made in Britain, and the F-Type sports car ending in May.
Production of its largest model, the F-Pace, will continue in Solihull for the time being, although it will only be produced for overseas markets. A spokesperson for the brand confirmed that UK-spec production ended in November.
And while manufacturing of the E-Pace compact SUV and its only electric car, the I-Pace, continues in Graz, Austria, until the end of the year, its UK allocation has also run out.
Jaguar says availability of the I-Pace continues, but only for “corporate customers until 2025.”
It means Jaguar has basically stopped all car sales in Britain for the first time since the Second World War.
Meanwhile, sales of JLR’s Range Rover SUV have soared, with the company championing “strong wholesale growth” with a 12 per cent increase during the quarter compared to a year earlier.
Sales of classic Range Rovers increased by 22 per cent, while the Sport and Evoque models increased by 17 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. Sales of the Defender also increased by 13 per cent, while sales of the Discovery increased by 1.5 per cent.
Annual sales of all Range Rover types soared from 339,825 to 366,355, and JLR said the figures reflected “an improvement following supply disruptions”.
Meanwhile, sales of Jaguar models have plummeted. In 2022, Jaguar sold 61,661 cars, but last year the figure fell to 33,320. As recently as 2019, the brand sold 161,601 cars.
This is the new Jaguar logo: a circle formed by the letter ‘J’ that looks the same both ways.
Jaguar’s classic ‘growler’ logo has been ditched as the car company reinvents itself to appeal to a younger audience of car buyers.
Jaguar has been reducing its model range, and cars like the F-Pace SUV (above) are now relegated to the history books.
But sales of the automaker’s classic Range Rover and Defender models remain popular.
Jag’s big rebrand had been in development for three years as the company prepares to become an all-electric car maker ahead of the UK’s 2030 target to stop selling new cars powered exclusively by fossil fuels.
Released under the slogan “copy nothing”, a saying from the company’s founder Sir William Lyons, the ad features various models in technicolor suits walking through a strange landscape.
Around 800 people are reported to have worked on the rebrand, with CEO Rawdon Glover saying: “We need to change people’s perception of what Jaguar stands for.”
But the radical break with Jaguar’s traditional image sparked a fierce backlash, with critics accusing the company of trampling on its British heritage.
Critics also criticized the diversity of the ad, which features androgynous-looking men and women in lush clothing.
UK reform leader Nigel Farage warned the brand would go bankrupt following the overhaul, while others branded the makeover “woke” and “unhinged”.
Marketing experts around the world also said they were “baffled” by the move, with Californian designer Joseph Alessio saying “schools would be taught how not to rebrand.”
However, Jaguar boss Mr Glover hit back at the “vile hatred and intolerance” directed at the eccentric-looking models featured in the advertising video.
He denied that the company was squandering its nearly 100-year heritage with its most dramatic rebranding in decades; instead, he stated that the automaker needed to move away from “traditional automotive stereotypes” to find its place in the market.
Jaguar CEO Rawdon Glover has responded to critics of the car brand’s much-maligned rebrand.
Glover told the Financial Times that he believed the overall reaction to the campaign had been “very positive”, but that he was disappointed by the “level of vile hatred and intolerance” directed at the models in the advert.
‘If we play the same way as everyone else, we will just suffocate. So we shouldn’t appear as a car brand,” Glover said.
‘We need to reestablish our brand and at a completely different price, so we need to act differently. “We wanted to get away from traditional automotive stereotypes,” he added.
Gerry McGovern, the company’s creative director, admitted that the concept car unveiled in December would not be “loved by everyone,” but added: “That’s what fearless creativity does.”
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