“It’s interesting that you said start-up” says Jaguar MD Rawdon Glover when asked if he sees difficulties in acceptance for the brands move from its ‘established brand’ image to lone that’s more akin of a ‘start-up’.
Speaking to Autocar India at a special preview of Jaguar’s rebranding and the Type 00 concept Glover said “the brief to the team, when they began this journey 4 years ago was actually, to think like a start-up”. The team was tasked to think the un-thinkable and break with convention adds Glover.
Un-thinkable is putting it squarely, where earlier the Jaguar brand was all about elegance and subtlety, the new repositioning sees the brand move to a vivid and exuberant- as the company puts it – positioning and appeal. It’s a bold and risky move and one that has already garnered tremendous backlash, especially so for its move to a simple letter mark logo devoid of the leaping cat, and the choice of bright colours and vividly dressed peopleseen in the teaser campaign.
Glover says the company is aware that this move will “shock some people because it’s a big departure from where we’ve been”but he adds that Jaguar were always at their best when they followed their pioneering spirit and a complete reinvention is what is required today. He’s also quick to point out that there hasn’t been a total disregard for the brands provenance pointing to the ‘leaper’ logo what has been retained, albeit not as the main stay but an embellishment and accompaniment to the new brand identity.
Glover feels that more than just the repositioning, the brands move further up the price ladder,away from the volume premium segment, will require them to speak to and attract a new set of customers. “We want as many of our current clients to come along with us but we know we will have to conquest a large group of people.”
Jaguar will remain EV only
The other big risk for Jaguar is the move to an all-electric model lineup. With the global uptake of electric vehicles slower than expected, brands have already announced tweaks to their EV plans and are working in more combustion engine models.Jaguar however says it is confident that electric is where the future of the market will be, Glover says “long term this is the right strategy, platforms are long term investmentsand there’s a lifespan of about 7 to 8 years, so its really important to ground our thinking and plans in the future rather than to what’s happening in 2024”
He also adds that the company has other brands like Land Rover and Defender which have a full range of powerplants from petrol, hybrids to diesels, so Jaguar “will be EV only”
So bold and EV only is what the Jaguars of the future will be, all to be designed and built in the same vein and character as the Type 00, which the company says is a clear signpost of where the brand is headed, including its retail spaces. The new plan is a bold and risky move, sidelining one’s provenance and positioning for a new one that pretty much diametrically opposite has the potential to bring plenty of reward but peril too. It isn’t the first time a company has faltered on a rebranding, but also, isn’t the first time a company has made a success of a rebrand either. For Jaguar the latter is clearly what its after.
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