Jaguar is back.

No one can say that today’s relaunch of the storied British brand—complete with a bold new logo, a high-fashion vibe, and a super-luxury mission but no actual cars—was a universal success. But it’s the first sign of life from Jaguar in a very long time, and it’s further confirmation that Jaguar sees its future as all-electric. 

Yet this isn’t the first time we’ve heard bold promises from Jaguar, which has been struggling since its failed bid to go toe-to-toe with BMW in the 2010s and hasn’t launched an actual new model in almost 10 years. The 89-year-old brand was supposed to launch a similar electric onslaught at the start of our current decade, but its then-new CEO Thierry Bolloré pulled the plug at the last minute.

That car, an electric rebirth of the iconic XJ sedan, has been shrouded in mystery for years—until now. Ahead of Jaguar’s big announcement today, photos appeared online of an electric XJ prototype that resembles a cross between a 2010s Jaguar sedan and a Tesla Model S. Normally, that sort of thing might get written off as rumor or innuendo, but one post caught the attention of someone who would know what he’s talking about: legendary Jaguar designer Ian Callum. 

That’s as good a confirmation as any, I’d say.

So with Jaguar finally doing something novel, it’s worth asking: what the heck happened to this car? Well, after the success of the Jaguar I-Pace—which people often forget was a groundbreaking EV in its day and an early Tesla Model 3 competitor—the company invested billions of dollars into more electric models, starting with an XJ EV. Then Bolloré, a Frenchman and veteran of Michelin and Renault, was named CEO in 2020 and one of his first edicts was to scrap the entire project even though it was extremely close to completion and release. That was a reported write-down of at least £500 million, or $634 million at current exchange rates. His plan was to take Jaguar more upmarket than it’s ever been in modern times, winning on profit margins instead of volume sales. 

And he evidently didn’t think highly of what the electric XJ meant for that mission or for future technologies. “It was one of the toughest decisions I have ever made, especially since it was in my first month, but XJ was a completely different kind of car from the ones we were proposing – different in technology, battery chemistry, electronics, size, performance and market position,” Bolloré told Autocar back in 2021. It would never have suited our plans.”

The XJ electric prototype rendered in complete form using AI.

But Bolloré himself would only last another year in the CEO slot until he was replaced with 30-year Jaguar veteran Adrian Mardell. And “plans” are certainly something that have felt in short supply at Jaguar in the interim. As we’ve reported previously, it has launched no new models in years, killed off the I-Pace after age allowed it to become uncompetitive, opted to hit pause on the whole “selling cars” thing while executives have bemoaned how “frustrating” the move to an electric lineup has been. 

Jaguar does seem to be on track to show the world its electric grand touring sedan now, but this move from premium brand to a super-luxury brand means this EV could cost at least $150,000. Will it be worth it, especially as the EV-and-software era means that premium cars aren’t what they used to be? 

Photo by: Jaguar

The disguised prototype of the new electric Jaguar (2024)

One thing does feel certain now: this is probably it for Jaguar if it can’t pull this off. The brand has been a non-entity in the U.S. so long that it’s almost a distant memory for everyone but aging classic car enthusiasts, and there’s no guarantee it has what it takes to keep up with quickly evolving players in the EV space—including ones like Lucid Motors or whatever high-tech Chinese brands it has to deal with abroad. 

Either way, now we know what the electric Jaguar XJ could’ve been. And in retrospect, canceling it feels like a mistake; it could’ve been something, anything at all, for a brand that now has to start from zero again. 

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