Jaguar Land Rover is going through difficult times. The new CEO of the British group, Thierry Bolloré, will be in charge of defining a new corporate strategy to safeguard the company’s future. One of the critical points of his job will be deciding what to do with Jaguar, whose success pales compared to that of its sister Land Rover.
Although at the time some executives of the group considered eliminating or selling the historic brand to focus on Land Rover and its lucrative SUVs, the truth is that Bolloré has ambitious plans for Jaguar, betting firmly on electrification to transform it into a rival of firms like Polestar or Tesla.
Jaguar’s new strategy’s cornerstone will be an electric sedan called to rival the Tesla Model 3. Although the English firm already has an electric model among its ranks (the I-Pace) and is preparing another two for the year upcoming (the electric versions of the new XJ and J-Pace, its most significant vehicles), the “small” model will be the most important of them all.
“A small electric Jaguar would be great; we have to think about it. It’s a really cool category that we want to be in, and our customers want us to be in, as it’s extremely relevant right now,” says Jaguar Land Rover Engineering Director Nick Rogers.
Jaguar’s new chief designer, Julian Thomson, is also delighted with the idea. “I would love to make a smaller Jaguars. Reflecting on what is happening around the world, I would like to make cars that are smaller, more efficient and have all the inherent values of a Jaguar, which are beautiful to look at, with a fantastic interior and just great to drive, I would love to make smaller cars of that type.”
Currently, sales of the Tesla Model 3 far exceed those of the Jaguar XE and XF combined, which together with the successful launch of Volvo’s Polestar 2 would have given the definitive boost to the development of the new “baby Jaguar,” which will be based on the MLA modular platform that will soon debut the new XJ.