Jaguar Land Rover global strategy, christened ‘Reimagine’, is designed to transform the iconic brand into a pure-electric manufacturer in just four years times.

But, what does this mean for its flagship car, the Jaguar XJ?

Chris Hargreaves reports…

Whilst JLR has promised six new pure-EV Land Rovers by 2026, the first arriving in 2024, it is anticipated that in 2030, 100 percent of Jaguar sales will be “zero tailpipe emission vehicles”, with Land Rover projected to have 60% of its sales from the EV segment.

Jaguar Land Rover’s new Chief Executive Officer, Thierry Bolloré, yesterday revealed a wide-reaching set of plans that are set to transform the line-up of both British brands. Having been appointed back in September 2020, it’s thought that the new CEO of JLR has taken his time in reviewing JLR’s long-term strategy.

However, the “wide-reaching plans” exclude the planned 2021 launch of the new pure-electric Jaguar XJ. The flagship model has become the first casualty, with the major announcement that Jaguar is to scrap of the iconic XJ model, even though according to one insider was only months away from production. 

A spokesperson said: “Following a thorough technology review against the exponential change in the automotive industry, we concluded that the planned XJ replacement does not fit with our vision for a reimagined Jaguar brand. We have made the tough decision that it will not form part of the line-up, as the brand looks to realise its unique potential.”

For a project to be called off so close to its official launch date, as all design and engineering work on the XJ had been complete, is highly unusual. Prototypes had been built and on-road testing had already commenced. 

Unlike the current I-Pace, which was built on a modified version of the F-Pace’s platform, the new XJ was to be based on Jaguar’s all-new MLA underpinnings. The platform can support, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full electric powertrains, but Jaguar had only intended to develop an electric XJ before the project was axed. 

Last year, Jaguar’s design director Julian Thompson spoke to Auto Express who revealed the project was in its latter stages. At the time, Mr Thompson said: “It’s going to be a very, very luxurious, very, very calm, tranquil piece of transportation.” 

“But it’s not overtly flashy, it’s not overly expensive. It’s a car which you make an emotional connection with. We don’t want all our people who get our cars to just sit in the back of them and just be driven around in them. They can be used like that, but at the end of the day, we know that these cars are there to be experienced and driven and enjoyed; enjoyable to sit in, relaxing to sit in, and beautiful to look at.”

The decision to drop the XJ model from future plans will leave the brand without a large executive saloon for the first time, however, in a statement JLR claimed the nameplate would be retained.

Whilst the XJ will disappear from showrooms, it is unclear what this means for the existing line-up, as well as the mooted “J-Pace“, which was to be built on the same platform as the XJ.

“Jaguar Land Rover is unique in the global automotive industry,” said Bolloré. “Designers of peerless models, an unrivalled understanding of the future luxury needs of its customers, emotionally rich brand equity. The Reimagine strategy allows us to enhance and celebrate that uniqueness like never before. Together, we can design an even more sustainable and positive impact on the world around us.”

Another key piece of the Reimagine program will see Jaguar Land Rover retain its plant and assembly facilities in the home UK market and around the world. Their Solihull, West Midlands plant will manufacture the advanced Jaguar pure electric platform as well as Land Rover’s MLA architecture.

Jaguar Land Rover stated that they aim to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its supply chain, products and operations by 2039. It will be helped through different architectures developed for the two brands. Jaguar’s new platform will be designed for pure EVs, whereas Land Rover will use a ‘Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA)’ that utilities both electrified internal combustion engines and pure EVs.

JLR will also be exploring hydrogen fuel cell technology, with a long-term investment program planned. The exploration will see the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicles trialled on UK roads within the next 12 months.

The latter half of 2020 saw a much-needed increase in sales for JLR, with a resurgent Chinese market being a large part of early turnaround signs. 

Chris Hargreaves. chris@thechauffeur.com