I wonder if there are enough buyers for £100k+ luxury Jaguar EVs
Mike Rutherford gives his view on Jaguar's controversial rebrand
The maddest, baddest, saddest week of the year so far? Possibly the one we’ve just endured.
The madness came courtesy of the UK Government and its summit meeting with motor industry chiefs. Up for discussion were mega-important matters such as the ZEV mandate, job losses, the threatened 2030 ban on new ICE cars, plans for electric cars to succeed them and, in turn, the future and rapidly changing shape of mass manufacturing at major factories still building vehicles in Britain. UK car industry life-savers such as BMW/MINI, Land Rover, Nissan and Toyota, we salute you.
With all this and more on the agenda, and so much at stake, surely Prime Minister Starmer and/or Net Zero Minister Miliband should have taken the lead? Instead, the recently sacked Transport Secretary Haigh (famous for further subsidising trains and buses) was wheeled in over the potholes to lead the negotiations, assisted by Business Minister Reynolds. Nissan seemed unimpressed and said the ZEV mandate “risks undermining the business case for manufacturing cars in the UK”. Haigh and her Government need to take that as an official and serious written warning.
As for the bad, trains (which are allegedly the alternative to cars) will reportedly offer travel chaos “for millions” this Christmas, as at least two of the UK’s busiest stations [Liverpool Street and Paddington in London] face closure, with the added and inevitable ‘bonus’ of disruptions elsewhere.
Sadly, JLR’s unveiling of its new jaGuar logo, on-vehicle badges, overall corporate image and carless promotional video grabbed the headlines across the world – but for the wrong reasons. “Rebrand sparks anger and mockery” and “Disastrous” screamed a couple of the headlines that pretty much summed up the mood at home and abroad.
But the controversy over Jaguar’s badging, logo and corporate identity is comparatively minor. Far bigger and more important questions are these: after halting car production for more than one year, will Jaguar’s promised product rebirth in 2026 really happen? Will its all-new, considerably more expensive cars actually be in the showrooms by then? And does it really, truly, deeply know there are enough buyers out there willing and able to pay £100,000-plus for luxury-only Jags? For the sake of the company, its workers and UK PLC, I bloody well hope so.
I’m also hoping that tens of millions of beleaguered car users have been inspired to at least think about following in the footsteps of the comparatively small number of farmers who staged peaceful, dignified but highly effective protests on the streets of London last week. Time for motorists to follow their fine example?
Do you agree with Mike? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section...
