Jaguar dealers are questioning the company’s pivot to an all-electric luxury brand, citing uncertainty over demand for vehicles.
Tata Motors-backed Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) underwent a major rebrand in late 2024 that sparked controversy among car enthusiasts.
A promotional video featured models in colorful outfits, but conspicuously showed no Jaguar vehicles, and the concept car unveiled a month later was widely considered underwhelming.
It was part of the Reimagine strategy, initiated in 2021 by then-CEO Thierry Bolloré, aimed at redefining the British brand’s identity.
It included having all Jaguar and Land Rover models be electric by 2025.
Bolloré stepped down in late 2022 and was succeeded by longtime Jaguar executive Adrian Mardell, initially as interim CEO and later confirmed in the role. Mardell led the company up until mid-2025, when he retired.
During those three years, according to Reuters, JLR posted its highest profit in a decade, eliminated £5 billion ($6.6 billion) in debt, and posted its strongest operational performance to date.
However, the consequences of the controversial ad and leaked EV concept in late 2024 were far from over, as the newly appointed CEO PB Balaji dismissed Chief Design Officer Gerry McGovern late last year.
Electric Lineup
Jaguar has ended production of most of its petrol and diesel models in 2024, including the XE, XF, F‑Type, E‑Pace, and I‑Pace, as part of its shift to an all-electric lineup.
The company plans to return with three new electric models: a four-door grand tourer, a large luxury SUV, and a sedan or sporty alternative in the luxury segment.
However, according to Automobilwoche, dealers in Germany are uncertain about Jaguar‘s future.
“‘If we are honest, there is currently no business case for the brand,” a sales representative stated. “We have signed that we want to continue with Jaguar in the future.”
“However, whether we will fulfill this declaration of intent will only become clear once we know Jaguar‘s future strategy,” he added. “Then we can decide whether it suits us or not.”
In the meantime, CEO of the Association of German Jaguar and Land Rover Dealers Andreas Everschneider said “the new start is a new opportunity.”
While Andreas Everschneider, CEO of the Association of German Jaguar and Land Rover Dealers, says “the new start is an opportunity,” he is also unsure of what’s to come.
“We don’t know what to expect, how big the market is, or which customers will buy the vehicle,” he noted.
The first model to be launched in Jaguar‘s upcoming lineup — based on the Type 00 concept revealed in late 2024 — will be a grand tourer for which the design will only be unveiled later this year.
Orders are expected to open in either March or April, at a price tag of around $130,000, according to Car and Driver.
Leasing, Not Purchasing
According to Everschneider, the grand tourer will not be sold but rather leased.
As it repositions itself in the luxury sector, Jaguar may adopt a lease-only strategy to better control the used-car market and maintain strong residual values.
Under this plan, JLR intends to produce around 10,000 vehicles per year — a sharp reduction of about 94% from the peak of 181,500 units in 2018.
In 2024, the last year of production, JLR produced 59,000 vehicles.
Tariffs
The company’s manufacturing footprint is mostly located in the UK, and it will remain there as it transitions towards EV production.
“JLR has radically transformed its 61‑year‑old factory in Halewood, Merseyside in preparation for electric vehicle production,” the company stated in September 2024.
When Trump announced new tariffs last April — mainly the 25% on imported auto parts and vehicles — Jaguar temporarily paused shipments to the US for a month, as it was working to “address the new trading terms with our business partners.”
In a post on Truth Social last Saturday, Trump announced that an additional 10% import tariff will take effect on February 1 for goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and Great Britain.
With the new threats coming from the White House over the weekend, former CEO of Aston Martin Andy Palmer told local media outlet The Telegraph that “for someone like JLR, which is highly reliant on the US market, it’s an absolute black swan.”
However, shifting production to the US to escape tariffs would be impractical, with new factories taking at least two years to build.
To the former executive, “there’s no way that car companies, which are making 4% profitability, can absorb this kind of tariff. You can’t play that softly, softly game.”
Palmer explained that “you are essentially passing on the cost to the consumer, and when you put the price up there are people who simply can’t afford it and the volume will come down.”
A study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy published on Monday shows that US consumers paid for most of last year’s tariffs.
Only about 4% of the cost falls on foreign companies — contradicting Trump’s claims that they were the ones taking the hit — while 96% is passed on to American buyers.
