The craziest thing about the rebrand is that Jaguar (which already was seen as a high end brand) wants to be even more exclusive. The new electric models are going to be much more expensive than their petrol cars. They're even closing 75% of their UK sales points. This is the craziest rebrand I've ever seen. This new look doesn't appeal to anyone, the ad is universally ridiculed and the rich, woke audience the Jaguar CEO now wants to appeal to doesn't exist.
Jaguar accused of ditching loyal customers as it embarks on dramatic brand overhaul
www.telegraph.co.uk
Jaguar has been accused of abandoning loyal customers and dealerships with its controversial rebrand, as the carmaker prepares to debut its new electric vehicle (EV) lineup. The company will unveil the “design vision concept” for its latest generation of cars –
all of which will be battery-powered – at an art show in Miami, Florida, on Monday night. It is part of a historic shake-up that will see the marque target wealthier customers and slash the number of UK dealerships that can sell the luxury cars.
However, the rebrand has sparked a storm of controversy, with the Independent Motor Dealers Association on Sunday claiming it would also leave dozens of the company’s retail partners and their customers worse off. Umesh Samani, chairman of the IMDA and owner of the Specialist Cars dealership in Stoke, said: “There are a lot of angry dealerships out there, because some have invested millions of pounds in these franchises but now won’t be able to continue carrying the Jaguar brand.
“You’ve also got to ask, what will customers do for maintenance and repairs now, when you are narrowing down the number of dealerships so much?
“There’s going to be a major impact and I’m not sure the company has realised what that full effect is going to be yet.”
Jaguar bosses confirmed last month that the company’s ongoing rebrand meant the number of dealerships would be “significantly reduced” in the UK, from 80 today to around 20. At the moment, most dealerships that work with parent company Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have showrooms that are split 50-50 between the Land Rover and Jaguar brands. One company spent as much as £10m building one of these in Lincoln, according to trade publication Car Dealer.
But under the ongoing “house of brands” strategy and the latest changes to Jaguar, some 60 showrooms will now have to lose the Jaguar brand and instead focus solely on the Land Rover sub-brands Range Rover, Defender and Discovery.
Jaguar has insisted that Jaguar drivers will not be left “high and dry” and will be able to continue getting their cars serviced at all JLR franchises.
But Mr Samani warned it could make it harder to obtain specialist parts and would mean dealerships lose footfall that comes with the Jaguar marque.
Under the controversial rebrand, Jaguar has also dropped its famous “growler” badges and unveiled a new motif and logo ahead of its transition to an all-electric lineup in 2026.
The announcement was accompanied by an advertisement featuring a diverse cast of colourfully dressed models strutting around a Martian-style landscape.
It prompted ridicule in some quarters, with critics claiming the “woke” promotion had trashed the brand’s “Jag man” heritage while showing no actual cars.
But Rawdon Glover, Jaguar’s managing director, dismissed the furore as a “blaze of intolerance”.
Executives believe that to attract bigger-spending customers, Jaguar must become more distinctive.
“If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we’ll just get drowned out. So we shouldn’t turn up like an auto brand,” Mr Glover told the Financial Times.
“We need to re-establish our brand and at a completely different price point so we need to act differently.”
