Jaguar shelves sportscars to make electric SUV and sedan replacing XJ; change in strategy potentially on cards
Jaguar Land Rover has always kept pace with the ever growing automotive sector despite financial troubles in the past. New products would come up belonging to the latest trends with well-defined craftsmanship but whether they become successful or not is another story to be discussed.
It is well-known that Jaguar targets Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz as its key rivals and in the global premium space the large SUVs and crossovers are highly wanted. Jaguar with its Special Vehicle Operations division has been expected to hit with a bang on supercar segment as well. While it cannot be ruled out, the immediate future could signal two new models ditching the sportscar plans. The two reportedly scrapped sportscar plans is said to make way for a XJ replacement and a premium SUV.
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According to Automobile, the luxury EV has been codenamed as X590 and is speculated to be a four-door coupe with rear hatch which is in contrary to previous rumours that Jaguar wants to have a Panamera like premium vehicle. The brand’s chief designer Ian Callum said within the space of next two years, a non-petrol powered vehicle will be introduced.
If the X590 is true, it marks a reshuffled strategy to take the fight to Merc S-Class and BMW 7-Series. It will challenge Tesla’s models as well by using an all-new architecture developed and overlooked by former BMW engineer Wolfgang Ziebart. In future it could allow for autonomous provisions too. Before the end of this decade, a luxury EV limousine will be accompanied by a premium SUV as per reports.
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It will be sleek, aero efficient and modern while being a true premium utility vehicle. The XJ sedan successor and a brand new SUV mean that Jaguar will be ditching the XK replacement and the road-going version of the C-X75 which was revealed to celebrate Jaguar’s 75th anniversary and was powered by jet turbines in conceptual form. Perhaps, Jaguar’s potential tie-up talks with Ford and BMW for a battery production plant seems viable now?