The new, all-electric Jaguar XJ is dead before it was even born.
Originally set for reveal this year, the XJ was well advanced in its development.
Speaking tonight at the reveal of his bold new Reimagine business plan, Jaguar Land Rover CEO Thierry Bollore said “the planned Jaguar XJ replacement will not form part of the line-up”.
Mr Bollore says the new XJ was “not fitting” with his new vision for the reborn Jaguar.
Today’s announcement marks the end of more than 50 years of Jaguar’s flagship limousine, though Bollore didn’t rule out the nameplate coming back in the future.
The stillborn flagship was pitched as “more Jaguar than ever before” by Jaguar’s head designer, Julian Thomson, when he spoke with CarExpert in 2020.
The axing of the XJ is part of a plan to make Jaguar a brand with a range of pure-electric vehicles by 2025, all of which will be built on a shared platform.
Pictured: Jaguar XF
Mr Bollore said the electric “renaissance” could bring about a “more compact” Jaguar range, which currently includes the XE and XF sedans, E-Pace and F-Pace internal-combustion crossovers, the electric I-Pace, and the F-Type sports car.
Land Rover will also be given an electric makeover under Mr Bollore’s bold new strategy.
The off-road brand will reveal six all-electric variants by 2026, the first of which will lob in 2024.
Whether the cars will be standalone electric vehicles or electric adaptations of existing models such as the Defender isn’t yet clear.
Mr Bollore confirmed the Land Rover line-up won’t be cut back in the same way as Jaguar’s, with the Range Rover, Discovery, and Defender families to carry on.
The plan is designed to see 60 per cent of Land Rover sales become all-electric by 2030.
Pictured: Range Rover Velar
Future vehicles will be built on two platforms. MLA Flex will support both hybrid and electric power, while the EMA platform will also support hybrids but with a more overt focus on battery-powered vehicles.
The Jaguar Land Rover group will back its investment in battery-powered vehicles with a focus on hydrogen fuel-cell development.
The significant brand shift comes as Mr Bollore looks to swing Jaguar Land Rover’s focus from “volume” to “quality and profit” moving forward.
“Our will is to be one fo the most profitable luxury manufacturers in the world,” Mr Bollore said in a global livestream.
The push for profit won’t see the closure of Jaguar Land Rover’s plants in the United Kingdom.
Currently the company has factories at Castle Bromwich and Solihull, the latter of which will be the centre of the reorganised Jaguar Land Rover universe with its focus on electric vehicles.
