Jaguar managing director Rawdon (Rodin) Glover defends the controversial 2024 rebrand, arguing the “woke” backlash wasn’t the goal—Jaguar needed to regain commercial relevance and signal a bold, colorful EV-upmarket future. He says the initial Miami teaser generated massive global reach (around 1.5 billion impressions) but was hard to control on binary social media. Glover explains the strategy: move back to higher price points, conquest younger buyers, and sell the new Type 00–derived four-door GT through fewer, metro-focused retailers with boutique experiences. He also addresses online abuse, insists success will be judged by the car’s reception and long-term financial viability.
In the final episode of our podcast series, Car Dealer talks to the man at the centre of the Jaguar relaunch: Rawdon Glover. The brand’s managing director speaks about what it was like being inside Jaguar when that controversy broke the internet. We cover the personal attacks he and his team faced, why Jaguar needed to be so dramatic and find out whether Gerry McGovern leaving the business will change the direction. You can catch up with all the episodes of Jaguar Rebrand: Mistake or Genius now.
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Autotrader is a major UK online marketplace for buying and selling cars. In this segment, it’s positioned as a data-driven advertising and lead-generation partner for dealers.
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"...I've been investigating Jaguar's rebrand... one of the most controversial relaunches the car industry has ever seen."
Jaguar is the car brand being discussed. The episode is about Jaguar changing its image and future plans, and how people reacted.
Jaguar is the luxury car brand at the center of the discussion, and the segment focuses on its rebrand and product direction. The speaker frames it as one of the most controversial relaunches in the industry.
"Without doubt, one of the most controversial relaunches the car industry has ever seen."
A “relaunch” is a major marketing and brand reset, often paired with new products and messaging. The speaker frames Jaguar’s relaunch as unusually polarizing, showing how branding choices can affect public perception.
"new direction in November 2024 and since then, the world has been getting used to the idea of its EV future. F-Types and E-Types are out and inbound is a four-door luxury electric GT. That rebrand, though, sent the internet into a frenzy. Jaguar faced accusations it had gone woke"
The Jaguar E-Type is a famous older sports car from Jaguar. It’s known for its distinctive design and is considered a classic. The podcast brings it up to connect Jaguar’s past with its plans for electric vehicles.
The Jaguar E-Type is a classic British sports car that’s widely regarded as an icon of automotive design and performance. In the podcast context, it’s mentioned alongside Jaguar’s shift toward an electric future, highlighting how the brand’s heritage connects to what’s coming next. That makes it a natural topic when discussing brand direction and model lineup changes.
"...F-Types and E-Types are out and inbound is a four-door luxury electric GT."
A “GT” (grand tourer) typically describes a car designed for comfortable long-distance driving with performance. Calling it “four-door” and “electric” signals Jaguar is targeting a premium EV that blends practicality with a GT-style driving experience.
"This is the story of Jaguar's rebrand mistake or genius. Episode three, The Insider. Rodin Glover is the managing director of Jaguar and the man now leading the relaunch."
A rebrand is when a company changes how it presents itself—like its image and marketing. For car brands, it’s often done to attract new customers or to signal big changes coming.
A rebrand is a deliberate change to a brand’s identity—often including messaging, design language, and marketing strategy. In auto, rebrands are usually tied to repositioning the company to attract a different buyer segment or to signal a major product/technology shift.
"When I told JLR I was producing a video, podcast and a series of articles on their rebrand, there was apparently some nervousness at HQ."
JLR is the company that runs both Jaguar and Land Rover. So when they mention JLR, they mean the parent organization behind the brand.
JLR stands for Jaguar Land Rover, the parent company that oversees Jaguar and Land Rover. When the speaker says they told JLR, it implies internal coordination at the group level, not just within Jaguar’s marketing team.
"I'd been closely following the interviews he'd conducted since the rebrand and had particularly enjoyed his chats on the CMO Uncensored podcast..."
CMO stands for Chief Marketing Officer. That’s the top person in charge of marketing and advertising decisions for a company.
CMO means Chief Marketing Officer, the executive responsible for a company’s marketing strategy and brand campaigns. Mentioning the CMO in the context of “CMO Uncensored” signals that the rebrand controversy is being discussed at the leadership level for marketing.
"So in that context we got lots of eyeballs. Was it in some respects a bit of a happy accident then?"
“Eyeballs” just means attention—how many people actually saw the campaign or heard about it.
“Eyeballs” is marketing slang for audience attention—how many people saw or engaged with a campaign. Automakers track this through media coverage, social reach, impressions, and view counts to gauge whether a relaunch is working.
"for a period that that was very difficult to control the narrative there particularly when much of that plays out on social media"
In marketing, “narrative” is the story people believe about a brand—what it stands for and why it matters. The speaker notes that once the campaign spread, it became difficult to control how the public interpreted Jaguar’s message.
"social media is a channel that's very binary you know I love it I hate it it's this you know it's everything gets absolutely distilled into sort of you know almost words of one syllable"
They mean social media reactions tend to be all-or-nothing—people either love it or hate it, and the message gets simplified. That makes it harder to steer the conversation.
“Binary” here means social platforms tend to simplify complex messaging into quick, polarized reactions. For automakers, that can make it hard to control narrative—especially when a campaign is interpreted as political or social commentary rather than pure branding.
"I do remember exactly where I was now when Elon Musk and tweeted and we're like what do you do with that"
Elon Musk is a very famous business figure who can get huge attention with his posts. The speaker is saying his tweet made the Jaguar relaunch conversation blow up even more.
Elon Musk is a high-profile tech entrepreneur whose social media posts can drive massive attention. Here, his tweet becomes part of the relaunch narrative, illustrating how celebrity/tech influence can amplify automotive brand messaging—sometimes unpredictably.
"how should a Jaguar make you feel when you're in it what should it should it cost you should it how should we deliver the power what's the balance of refinement engagement"
Power delivery is how the car gives you acceleration—how quickly it responds when you press the pedal and how smoothly it pulls.
“Power delivery” describes how a car provides acceleration and torque over time—how quickly it responds and how smoothly it builds speed. It’s a key part of the driving experience, especially when reviewers compare brand character across models.
"how should a Jaguar make you feel when you're in it what should it should it cost you should it how should we deliver the power what's the balance of refinement engagement all that good stuff"
Refinement means the car feels smooth and comfortable. Engagement means it feels fun and connected to the driver when you drive it.
“Refinement” and “engagement” are two competing goals in car design. Refinement is about smoothness and comfort; engagement is about driver connection—steering feel, responsiveness, and how rewarding the car is to drive.
"and then drive our production vehicle that really matters to me because you know their opinion caps"
A production vehicle is the real car that will be sold to buyers. The point here is that the final, customer-ready version is what ultimately counts.
A “production vehicle” is the version that’s built for customers, not a prototype or concept. The speaker emphasizes that what matters most is how the production car delivers the intended balance of refinement, engagement, and power delivery.
"um I think you know what you're what you're referring to is that the only way was
1023.3s a single moment time again it's nearly 80 months ago and we're still talking about a 30 second viral
1029.6s film on our channel and all that was to do was to say actually the summit really interesting
1035.1s happening in Miami at the art fair on 2nd of December check it out"
They’re referencing a short ad video that got a lot of attention online. If something goes viral, it can dominate the conversation about the brand.
This highlights how modern automotive marketing can hinge on short-form video that spreads quickly online. A “viral film” can become a major talking point—positive or negative—far beyond its original intent.
"in the F type you know you had F pace E pace in SUVs you had some fantastic saloons from the outside"
The Jaguar F-Type is Jaguar’s sports car. It’s the “fun to drive” model in their lineup, and the speaker is saying Jaguar had good cars but still struggled to sell them profitably.
The Jaguar F-Type is Jaguar’s sports car line, known for its performance-focused design and driving feel. In this segment, it’s used as an example of Jaguar’s lineup that included both cars and SUVs.
"it was when we had a really really tight knit range of vehicles that sold at more elevated price points that was very much at the top end"
He means Jaguar sold fewer different models, but they were more focused. The idea is that a simpler lineup can be easier to sell and manage profitably.
A “tight-knit range” means fewer models, but with clearer identity and stronger demand. The speaker suggests Jaguar performed best when its lineup was smaller and focused on higher-priced buyers.
"that'll be probably around 125 000 pounds well that is absolutely the top end of premium"
They’re talking about price—about £125,000 on average for the cars they’re highlighting. It’s meant to show Jaguar is targeting expensive premium buyers, not the entry-level market.
This is an example of Jaguar’s targeted pricing in the UK—around £125,000 for the average four-door GT being showcased. It’s used to illustrate that Jaguar is aiming at the top end of the premium market before true luxury brands start.
"but there's a load of white space before you get onto the real luxury brands who probably don't kick in until 250 and above"
“White space” means there’s a gap in the market—buyers who want something specific but don’t quite fit the usual categories. Jaguar thinks it can fill that gap.
“White space” in product strategy means an unmet market niche—an area where there’s demand but not enough competition or the right offerings. The speaker says there’s room between top-end premium and the luxury brands that start at much higher prices.
"...we're planning in 2020 our powertrain plan does look quite different across across the enterprise..."
A powertrain plan is the company’s roadmap for what types of engines or electric systems they’ll use. They’re saying Jaguar’s plans for the future weren’t the same everywhere.
A powertrain plan is the roadmap for what kinds of drivetrains (engines, hybrids, electric motors) the company will build and sell over time. The speaker says Jaguar’s powertrain plan looked different across the enterprise as of their 2020 planning.
"yeah undoubtedly for some the fact that we chose to be an all-electric platform is a
[1357.1s] it's bold it's change it's progressive"
It means the car is built specifically to run on electricity. Because it’s designed for EVs from the start, it can handle better and feel more refined than a “converted” design.
An all-electric platform means the vehicle architecture is designed from the ground up for electric power, rather than being adapted from a gasoline/diesel design. This can improve packaging, weight distribution, and how efficiently the car delivers performance and refinement.
"but you know it's an EV at these price points and my answer to that is just need to stop me there
[1397.3s] the reason you like it the enabling things that that give it the characteristics that you're so"
EV just means electric vehicle—cars that run on batteries instead of gasoline. The discussion is about why people might like the driving feel even if they’re unsure about EVs at certain prices.
EV stands for electric vehicle. The speaker is addressing how buyers evaluate EVs at specific price points and what engineering traits make EVs feel compelling.
"the fact that you literally sit on the center of
[1427.2s] gravity of the vehicle because we're cab bag not cab forward not you know not not cab forward"
The center of gravity is basically where the car’s “balance point” is. If it’s lower, the car tends to feel steadier and less tippy in turns.
Center of gravity is the point where the car’s weight effectively acts. Lowering it (common in EVs due to battery placement) reduces body roll and improves stability and cornering confidence.
"...is it reasonable to assume that a customer that loves the Jaguar brand that's bought you know an XE for 35,000 pounds is going to have the wherewithal to be able to say oh I'm going to buy that for 135,000 pounds probably not so when we looked at our the profile of our customers..."
The Jaguar XE is one of Jaguar’s regular, more affordable cars. They’re using it as an example of the kind of customer and budget Jaguar has been selling to, and why a big price jump can scare people off.
The Jaguar XE is Jaguar’s compact executive sedan, and it’s being used here as a reference price point for existing Jaguar buyers. The speaker is arguing that customers who buy an XE around the mid-$30k equivalent likely won’t be able to jump to much higher priced relaunch models.
"so the type 00 is just to be clear as the is a contact vehicle you know it's we we showed that to people because it's it's illustrative of the design direction that Jackie was going to take in terms of its proportions its shape the surfacing"
This means the company has a clear plan for how the next cars should look. They’re using the concept car to show the shape and styling ideas they’ll carry into production.
“Design direction” refers to the consistent styling themes a brand is moving toward—proportions, shape, and surface details. The speaker ties the Type 00 concept to those specific design cues for the upcoming Jaguar.
"...there's a reason for that is because actually the process whether it's crash whether it's aero..."
Crash requirements are the safety tests cars must pass in crashes. They’re saying it’s one reason concept cars often change a lot before production.
Crash requirements are engineering constraints that ensure the vehicle performs safely in collisions. The speaker groups crash engineering with other factors (aero and manufacturing realities) that make concept-to-production styling difficult.
"[2520.1s] which we wouldn't have done in type 00 because type 00 doesn't have particular dynamic capability
[2524.9s] it's not it's a it's a concept car so now is the time for us to start talking about dynamic"
A concept car is like a design and tech preview. It’s usually shown to the public to show what a brand might build next, not to prove it drives like a normal car.
A concept car is a showpiece vehicle built to preview future design directions and technologies. It often isn’t engineered to deliver the same real-world driving performance as production cars, which is why the host says it “doesn’t have particular dynamic capability.”
"we would talk about provenance yeah I worked really closely with him for the last three years and he absolutely and he understands luxury brands"
Provenance is basically the brand’s backstory—where it came from and why it matters. For luxury brands, that history helps people trust and feel connected to the brand.
In luxury branding, “provenance” refers to a brand’s origin story and credibility—its history, heritage, and past achievements. The speaker argues that luxury brands typically rely on provenance to connect emotionally with customers and reinforce identity.
"for example if you look on our social site we looked at what we internally it's called the origin story we're looking back on you know whether it's the unconventionality or challenging convention"
An origin story is the brand’s narrative—how they explain what inspired the new look. In this case, they’re using videos to show the thinking behind the design.
An “origin story” is brand storytelling that explains where the design philosophy or identity comes from. Here, they describe using internal themes (like unconventionality, color, and vehicle proportions) and presenting them externally via short films to communicate the direction of the relaunch.
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Welcome back to the Car Dealer Podcast. I'm James Bagger, Editor-in-Chief of Car Dealer Magazine
and in this special series, I've been investigating Jaguar's rebrand. Without
doubt, one of the most controversial relaunches the car industry has ever seen. Jaguar unveiled a
new direction in November 2024 and since then, the world has been getting used to the idea of its
EV future. F-Types and E-Types are out and inbound is a four-door luxury electric GT.
That rebrand, though, sent the internet into a frenzy. Jaguar faced accusations it had gone woke
and the world seemingly waded in on the argument. Even President Donald Trump had a view,
but then doesn't he always? In the first two episodes, I've heard from journalists who were
at that dramatic relaunch. At that point, I had 26 years in this industry and nothing prepared me
for the moment that in this sort of darkened studio in the design area at Gayden, the doors came back
and there was this huge pink car. And I've asked marketing and brand experts whether they thought
the backlash was all part of the plan. I honestly think there's no amount of money
they could have thrown at this that would have got the reaction they got. So
sometimes you have to rip the rulebook up and try something different and they did that and I think
they'll be proved very right at the end. In this episode, though, I'll be hearing from a man
at the centre of the storm about what really happened. This is the story of Jaguar's rebrand
mistake or genius. Episode three, The Insider.
Rodin Glover is the managing director of Jaguar and the man now leading the relaunch.
When I told JLR I was producing a video, podcast and a series of articles on their rebrand,
there was apparently some nervousness at HQ. Many of them had read my opinion piece published
just after the launch in 2024 and it's fair to say it had not gone down well. In fact,
so much so that no one from the company had spoken to me ever since. Until now.
This was the first time I'd spoken to Rodin since that event 18 months ago and I had no idea
how he was going to react. I'd been closely following the interviews he'd conducted since
the rebrand and had particularly enjoyed his chats on the CMO Uncensored podcast
where he'd been very open about the whole saga. This was my opportunity to ask the questions
and importantly for Jaguar to have its right of reply on everything my guests have said about
them up until now. So here it is, Jaguar's managing director Rodin Glover on that Jaguar
relaunch. I started with a question about whether the controversy was always part of the plan.
Firstly, hi James, good to see you again. Thanks for inviting me on. So in terms of your question,
we've got to remember what we were trying to do and the context that Jaguar was in at that time.
So Jaguar was becoming less and less relevant in commercial terms. The range we had was
was connecting to a smaller and smaller audience and we were about to go through a really bold
reinvention. So when we talk about the campaign, I think I know what you're talking about, we created
a social media film, we put it on our channels, we didn't spend any media money on it and its job
was to tell as many people as possible that Jaguar was going to do something
really different and was going to do something really big, really bold and really unexpected
and the fact and it was going to be very colorful and it was going to be creative and it was going
to be different. So that was the purpose of that teas film that we created and its job in the marketing
kind of campaign if you like was to signpost people as many people as possible to say
on December the 2nd in Miami something you know Jaguar are going to make an announcement,
we want to get as many eyeballs on it as possible. So if you look at it objectively
and I tend to be a sort of half glass full guy as far as I can be you kind of go okay we were
we got a lot of people talking about Jaguar again, we got Jaguar back in the kind of
social discourse and it was our first step to you know to again regaining that kind of
relevance and interest in terms of what we're doing. So that was that was its role and if you
assess it in terms of well how many eyeballs did we generate I guess you know that period and then
immediately after Miami I think we stopped counting when we got to about one and a half billion
opportunities to see coverage about about what we were doing. So in that context we got lots of eyeballs.
Was it in some respects a bit of a happy accident then? I mean did you when you first saw that
yourself that first advert that video did you think it was going to go as far as it did?
No no it was clear I mean there's no way I think any brand can think right we're going to do this
we're going to put one film on our social channels and as a consequence of that we're going to be
the most talked about thing on social media for three days concurrently globally you just
there's no there's no way that is an expected outcome. What was not expected I guess was the
you know it was never intended as a social or political statement so that was unexpected
in terms of in terms of that where it took us to and I think it's probably fair to say that for
a period that that was very difficult to control the narrative there particularly when much of
that plays out on social media and again I've spoken about this a lot publicly in terms of
you know social media is a channel that's very binary you know I love it I hate it it's this
it's that you know it's everything gets absolutely distilled into sort of you know
almost words of one syllable and our message was much more nuanced than that and that's kind
of my learning so our message is Jaguar needs to change commercially it needs to change
we think we need to make a big bold step rather than just small iterative changes to the brand
uh we think that going upmarket from where from our current position is strategically right for
us because it takes us back to probably when we were successful and rare relevant and aspiration
on all of those things it's definitely where our business model operates much more successfully
if we look at that our business model particularly for Range Rover and increasingly the top end of
Defender that sort of elevated price point really strong product substance strong brand
that's a place where we can compete with pretty much anybody you know anybody out there in the
in terms of OEMs in terms of our proposition so and then you then that's the question well okay
why you know how does that link with your past and your you know and have you have you because it
bold step and that's that message was very difficult to kind of land during that period that that
first couple of months and then we spent the last we spent pretty much all of 2025 you know whether
it was a pebble beach or a good word at Monaco we went to Tokyo it's all the places that are
really important for us kind of culturally and commercially and we sort of unpack that story
whether it be to media whether it be to future clients whether it be to you know retail investors
and you know I think that's you know that's that's the learning if anything is you know certain
channels are good for certain messages other thing and to be honest what I what I found personally is
podcasts have probably have been our best medium for explaining what we're doing because you know
don't often get the opportunity to say right we're just going to talk for 20 minutes or an hour
how long it is and we're going to really unpack this and what I found is where we've done that
the reaction has actually been really positive into the right I understand and it doesn't need
to be for everybody in fact and actually consciously I think we've we've been very bold
with the design which is absolutely in keeping with Jaguar's DNA by the way
in the desire for you know we'd much rather have you know a group of people really really get what
we do and really really feel passionately and strongly and love what we do rather than have
everybody go yeah that's nice because we just don't think nice or you know we like it we'll
cut it we want we you know and in that context you you welcome and acknowledge the fact that for
some people you're going to polarize and that's okay when all that noise started getting louder
in those early days after that campaign launch you had Donald Trump wading in you had Elon Musk
talking talking about the brand behind the scenes was it was it high fives that everybody was talking
about you or was it kind of thinking wow this is really grow legs it's quite surreal looking back
on it now it's almost like it happened for me personally it's almost like it all feels like
it happened to somebody else um and you have to kind of cast your mind but I do remember exactly
where I was now when Elon Musk and tweeted and we're like what do you do with that you know how do
you respond to that um you know I think the the level of interest you know nobody's walking around
high-fiving job done because you know it's it's never job done and I suspect at some stage you'll
say well you know was it successful or not well times time will tell you know time you know whether
this is an iconic jaguar or not you know we're we're aspiring for it to be just that time's
going to be the judge but you know I wouldn't say we were walking around high-fiving we weren't also
walking around with a head and hands thinking oh my goodness you know one of the most you know
person with the most reach on social media anywhere is just posted you kind of go right
okay you just deal with what's in front of you we need to do that we need to respond we responded
to Elon we actually invited him to Miami to the launch we said you should come and join us for a
cup of tea he didn't join us but um uh so yeah you you kind of just play what's in front of you
and that's the only thing you can do James to be honest off the back of that a lot of it got very
personal though didn't it I mean a number of your team I mean I think even yourself include is I mean
there were some horrible things said online there were some horrible things written how was that
how was it how did you deal with that uh yeah interesting question um I mean personally I
felt a great amount of uh I guess responsibility to the team here so some of the individuals that
did have were sort of personally uh where they're attacked is the right word but yeah it was it was
a tough time for them so I felt a responsibility to look out for them I spent a responsibility to
sort of defend what we're doing and to defend them um if I think about I guess you know things are
written about me less so really I mean you know if somebody writes something on social media uh
about me and I don't know who they are you know why you know it's one of the it's that adage isn't
it if you don't know them and you why would you why would you why would your their opinion matter to
you um and you know that's I guess also you know so it's the nature of social media I could go on
our social media I could go on Instagram today and look on our Instagram account and look and say
right five and a half thousand of people have liked that there's 250 people over here that
have made a comment within that 250 some people are moaning about the fact there's not a combustion
engineer it's like you just need to kind of size it you know eight and a half million people have
looked at it lots of people have liked it some people decided it's not for them and they have
an opinion about it or me or the brand or everything else and you kind of just you just yeah you just
have to kind of okay it's important you know there are certain other opinions so in terms of you
like this week for example there's been a really important week for us
and the opinions of the automotive press who have been given the opportunity to
drive what we saw as the reference vehicles so those classic vehicles of our past
and understand well how should a Jaguar make you feel when you're in it what should it
should it cost you should it how should we deliver the power what's the balance of
refinement engagement all that good stuff and then drive our production vehicle that really
matters to me because you know their opinion caps there'll be people all the way across the world
who will look at that and and that will that will form an opinion on what we're doing
beyond automotive there'll be all all sorts of lifestyle publications also look to automotive
say what what a sense they say about it so there are certain opinions there where we care deeply
and there are other opinions where you kind of say actually what I'm probably more
interested in and if I look at general social media sentiment over the last 15 months
the trend is much more positive as we've got into I guess more storytelling and particularly
getting to the point where yes we're we're linked we're explaining how what we're doing links to our
past so we are sort of celebrating our past but still looking forward and now we're now talking
about the engineering technical details and actually some of those feats that have enabled
some of the performance that that that people have been impressed with we're seeing a we're
seeing a really a marked improvement in terms of that overall sentiment so you know you kind of
look at you should look at the macro trends I think if you know anything if you look at anything
on social media and start reading into the comments page I think it quickly can become a
bit of a dark place whether it's Jaguar or for anything else for that matter so yeah try and
stay in tune with it but not get dragged into every little bit of detail would be my
how I've tried to live through that experience I would like to understand was with was this the
only option that you had on the table was there that was this the extreme end was there a was
there one that was a little bit less divisive or was this just always the plan always at all long
what we're confusing here or conflating here is I don't think there's anything that we've done
with the possible exception of that tea's film that's been particularly notorious
so if you look at like go on our social media channels and just go through and scroll through
and say ah what is that is that you know do you want to call that woke is that is that this or
that the other and and I challenge you just kind of to do that so we wanted you know we wanted the
brand world to be to look modern to be vibrant to be colorful to look different so if you look at
for example what we've done more recently even with looking at actually some of our classic
provenance we've done it but we've done it in a very very what I would consider a very luxury way
of executing it um I think you know what you're what you're referring to is that the only way was
a single moment time again it's nearly 80 months ago and we're still talking about a 30 second viral
film on our channel and all that was to do was to say actually the summit really interesting
happening in Miami at the art fair on 2nd of December check it out so I've you know we've moved on
so let's talk about why you had to move on I mean the if we look at Jaguar before the
before the reset it was you know it was a brand that has some critically acclaimed sports cars
in the F type you know you had F pace E pace in SUVs you had some fantastic saloons from the outside
looking in lots of people would think well that's a great success what a brilliant company some
some fantastic cars what why did you what why wasn't it succeeding and why did you have to make
the change he did yeah it's yeah fair question um it's true to say that we had a range of very
competent actually highly acclaimed and and desirable vehicles populating a number of
different segments the challenge for Jaguar was to make that commercially viable for us
and if you think about the the segment we were playing in so we're very much playing in that
volume premium segment and as you will know and as listeners to this to this podcast will know
you know it's premium but it's blooming cutthroat it's really really competitive and
if I think about the main competitors in that volume premium space largely largely but not
exclusively the German premiums they've got a completely different operating model you know
they're you know Volkswagen group you know if you say if you think the XC's got to compete with the
A4 look at the procurement efficiencies where Volkswagen were buying components for 10 million
cars not 300 400 thousand cars look at the manufacturing efficiencies they've got look at
the platform efficiencies they've got so the ability for Jaguar to really compete in that space
was was very challenging it was just very and I go back to what I said earlier earlier in
statement is when we were thinking about where to reposition Jaguar it was around okay we would
take it back to you know when was Jaguar most successful culturally where were the models
more exciting financially when did it perform it's when we had a really really tight knit range
of vehicles that sold at more elevated price points that was very much at the top end of
very very top end of premium but not in luxury and again that's the space we're going for so in
the UK for example you know the average the average four door GT that we we've been showcasing this
week that'll be probably around 125 000 pounds well that is absolutely the top end of premium
but there's a load of white space before you get onto the real luxury brands who probably
don't kick in until 250 and above so it's about taking us back to a place that we've been before
and as I say in terms of our business model at an enterprise level across Jaguar Land Rover brands
that's where our business model really starts to work so that's you know that's the outside that's
the inside out view of why we needed to change and in order to do so you know did take a significant
amount of restructuring if you think about every aspect of our operation if you work backwards you've
got you've got an industrial footprint in terms of factories you've got you've got supplier agreements
and you know arrangements with all of our our existing suppliers and potentially some of our
future suppliers you've got a retail network you've got you know you've got it it's super complex
and that's that's what we've been doing over the last you know four years is systematically
learning how to how can we consent how can we sunset business one business and at the same time
actually build another one up that will then actually you know take the place of it and that's
that's quite complex but that's what we've been doing at Jaguar because it was
what we saw as the you know you know in any in any strategy I guess you asked yourself the question is
you know where do we think we can play and how are we going to win
and it was very clear to us that what we were doing previously as as good as those vehicles
were and you're right I love I mean I had umpteen F-paces I had umpteen high pace I love the vehicles
but that wasn't going to that wasn't going to be a sustainable route for us to say right
Jaguar is now financially viable it's sustainable and you know is that going to secure the next
90 years of Jaguar's history it wasn't going to do that. Do you think part of the the reaction
was caused by the fact that you said that the future for Jaguar was all electric
you know at at the time that was as divisive as many other things that that you announced
do you think that sort of compounded matters? There's definitely people out there that
you know there's a cohort of people that are steadfastly wedded to combustion engines and
that's fine and and actually you know there are brands that will do that for them I think if you
will sell combustion engines for longer than perhaps we you know we thought you know we're
planning in 2020 our powertrain plan does look quite different across across the enterprise so
yeah undoubtedly for some the fact that we chose to be an all-electric platform is a
it's bold it's change it's progressive and again you know human beings generally are
resistant to change it forces them to recalibrate it forces them to reconsider things and that's
actually one of the kind of interesting aspects that we've been doing in the last
sort of week or so is we've getting more and more people into the into the cars that are you
know going through their final final raft of testing is you know we've gone from kind of
saying I really really like how it drives and I love I love this I love that I love the other
but you know it's an EV at these price points and my answer to that is just need to stop me there
the reason you like it the enabling things that that give it the characteristics that you're so
impressed with you know the the weight distribution the the torsional rigidity the
the ability to deliver power instantly with a thousandths of a second the fact that we've got
a thousand ps the fact that we can control you know the front rear delivery of power
the you know there's all of those things the fact that you literally sit on the center of
gravity of the vehicle because we're cab bag not cab forward not you know not not cab forward
those are all of the enablers for the dynamic capability of the vehicle
and those are only enabled or you know those are optimized because it's an electric vehicle
so that's our that's our challenge now is to kind of get people to you know to move from a yes
but to a yes because EV because EVs we do believe is still the long-term future of of driving and
if I think about you know what does what does a Jaguar need to have well Jaguar needs to have power
it needs to have refinement it needs to have comfort you know it needs to have an engaging drive
but not exhausting and if you if you put all of those attributes down
then it absolutely leads you to the logical conclusion well actually your EV powertrain is
with all of the options we've got around us today that's the optimal powertrain for you
the electric market is changing slightly though isn't it I mean if you I remember back to that
press conference yeah I think it was chief commercial officer Leonard Hornick I think it is
he referred to the EV market he said a good ice hockey player does not skate to where the puck is
now they skate to where it's going I mean I think that was relevant 18 months ago but I mean that
puck has moved now I mean you've had you know Bentley's rolled back their EV plans Rolls Royce
have changed theirs does this make it more difficult for Jaguar? We'll find out James I think I still
think the analogy works because whatever we're here in 26 we'll be delivering our cars in 27
first cars in 27 and that these cars will be delivered right through you know the remainder
of the decade and into 2030 beyond so just grounding our thinking in what's happening in 2026
isn't isn't possible when you're making a platform decision that's going to have a
what seven eight year lifespan so to that that point is still very much relevant but also
I mean it's very dynamic I mean I was you know I know it's it's a very current thing but seeing
people's reaction to petrol prices in the lot you know based on what's happening in the Middle East
you know many of the journalists that we spoke to last week were talking about actually
was in a massive uptick in demand for EVs so whatever the world and you know whatever happens
in the world it's clearly very very you know we've never been in a more sort of dynamic
geopolitical environment that's you know that's absolutely sure but whatever whatever circumstances
ruined in 2026 I guarantee it'll move rapidly and probably slightly differently to what we
expect as we go to the back end of the decade and beyond so it's super difficult to predict that
and time's going to tell but our I go back to our start point is
we we wanted to make the most visually attractive you know jaw-dropping statement of a vehicle
that drove dynamically in a very very you know precise way with some very very specific
characteristics we want to try and make the best possible Jaguar ever and you know we thought then
and we still think now that actually the EV as a powertrain was the best enabler for that so
we need to you know we'll we'll follow that through and see where we get to
At that press conference Jaguar also talked about leaving a lot of those previous owners behind
I mean I think the stat was something like 90% of previous owners were not going to follow
into Jaguar's new new vehicles is that still going to be the case and do you think that was one of
the things that that maybe got people's noses? Yeah it's how you interpret it so I probably gave
you that statistic James so if you look purely at price point and so right where have we transacted
and where are we got you know is it reasonable to assume that a customer that loves the Jaguar
brand that's bought you know an XE for 35,000 pounds is going to have the wherewithal to be
able to say oh I'm going to buy that for 135,000 pounds probably not so when we looked at our
the profile of our customers and where that and what the price points they were transacting at
we could see that we probably had a back between 10 and 15 percent of our client base were
transacting you know around the sort of hundred thousand pound or slightly above market and you
kind of think well actually those individuals we can probably take with us so the intent was
never to you know actively say well we don't care about this people but there is there is a commercial
reality of okay how many of those are going to be able to come with us on that journey
obviously we want us you know we want those people still to be fans of the brand we want to
understand what we're doing we'd like them to to be excited about what we're doing even if
that vehicle is no longer in their price bracket and you know that that's there's probably no more
or less to it than that in terms of that number you've got it's not like well actually all of these
people over here we don't care what also fundamentally what what's I guess a fundamental truth is we
could see and part of the commercial challenges that we had is the age profile of the Jaguar client
globally was just getting older and older and older which is an indication to us is you're
not attracting new clients into the brand at a younger price point so that's not a that's
not a healthy and sustainable long-term profile either and it's very clear for us that we are
going to have to conquest a lot of new clients and quite possibly a lot of younger clients so
I think that's where that message came from in terms of just the commercial realities of
how we're positioning the vehicle rather than a desire to say well actually we don't care about
our client base because why would you not you did talk about these more younger more affluent
buyers didn't you and it cash rich time poor I think was one of the things that was said
have you seen these people come forward and talk to you about the car
yeah yeah so I think we've you know as you would expect we've we've we've researched this extensively
you know but and I think you know and those audiences you know we do think that you know
the brand proposition the product proposition we think it resonates
so yeah we're we are confident that there is a market out there who will
reappraise Jaguar because again I guess whether it's younger more affluent or whatever
reality for Jaguar is it was it was on fewer and fewer people's consideration list
have you taken any advanced orders rodent no we're not in a position to do oh yeah well
kind of informally yeah so I've had a number of people say to me where we've
presented for example type 00 the the concept car they've said I love this and I want one
and I want to be one of the first so we've got we've got those sorts of things
and interestingly you know those individuals have have got you know generally have been individuals
that had a stable of really elevated luxury vehicles so they're absolutely seeing this
fitting in with that but in terms of actually formally starting to take orders so we will
unveil the car at the end of the summer around September time and we'll start taking the the
physical ability to then take formal orders will start in December so I suspect we'll our retailers
will start taking deposits in late September and then those deposits will be converted into an
order bank in in December and then we'll be delivering cars in the in the new year so with
that in mind and you're obviously talking to lots of people at all these events what what's your gut
feeling for this I mean that's you know specifically the type 00 I know there's other plans but you
know for this for this car what's your gut feeling so the type 00 is just to be clear as the is a
contact vehicle you know it's we we showed that to people because it's it's illustrative of the
design direction that Jackie was going to take in terms of its proportions its shape the surfacing
so absolutely expects you know the first vehicle is a four-door GT and you should expect it to have
a very close lineage and a very close familiarity with with that with that vehicle so that's I
guess the the the first thing to say we were not selling that particular vehicle what we've seen
I can give you the example this week because one of the things we did take the opportunity to do
with all of the journeys we had through in the last in the last 10 days is yes they drove the
classics yes they were given a they would they they were given the opportunity to be in the
production vehicle we also showed them production vehicle without any camouflage
and the reaction to that vehicle has you know but which is still all under embargo not written
about but those reactions have been incredible because I think whilst you know yeah it's fair to
say type 00 did polarize it was designed to it did it did shock people I think the sort of the
sophistication and the execution and a degree of consistency to the production car to that
concept vehicle rather is absolutely they're absolutely seeing that and if anything I think
they've been you know they were I think they liked the production vehicle more than they
expected to and there's a number of things wrapped up in there because some kind of think
okay it was a concept car your production car is going to look nothing like it
and actually our car does look a lot like it in terms of its proportions etc so that's like
how have you done that and there's a whole raft of kind of you know I think incredibly
interesting and ingenious technical reasons why we've been able to do that because you know just
as an aside the industries are washed with you know we we're regularly seeing concept vehicles
that when they come to production they don't look anything like it and there's a reason for that is
because actually the process whether it's crash whether it's aero whether it's just the realities
of making a modern-day vehicle it's really difficult and we've overcome so many real
challenges to to have a car that that looks like type 00 but still has 700 kilometers of range is
still 1.4 meters tall still meets all crashed you know active and and passive safety requirements
and that's really super hard and that's when we've told that story I think people have been
blown away by it because nobody else is doing that nobody else does what we've done in terms of
if I think of you know all of the you know where my my previous employer and and their approach is
you start with a platform so it's like okay well there's a platform and that and that immediately
puts you in a box whereas we said well actually we start with a design we then got to a platform
and then it's then handed across to the engineers to say okay you know you know ladies and gentlemen
you now need to engineer this vehicle in a way that retains all of the essence the purity the
joy if you like but it's got to still have incredible range it's got to drive amazingly well
it's got to do with isn't that and that's that's just really difficult and I I don't see other
manufacturers doing that in the same way and that's part of the reason I guess you know
when we think we need to find a you know find a place where we think we can play and find a
place where we think we can win it's by doing that approach for a luxury uv not what everybody else
does and when it comes to selling this vehicle I mean what are your plans for dealerships I mean
you went from 80 dealers to around 20 in the UK there was talk of boutiques and and setting up
metropolitan areas give me an idea of how this car's going to be sold so pretty much as you've
said so we will have a we'll have a we'll have less than 20 retailers in the UK they will all be
sold from I guess what I would class as absolutely first tier you know metro locations where all
our other brands are represented so Range Rover Defender Discovery and Jaguar will be there and
we'll have a I guess a bespoke room within a room within those showrooms so it'll be a much
smaller much more tight-knit group of people get you know volume and throughputs really important
so we've had the choice to say well do we want to go everywhere and everybody sell
this volume or we have concentration and you have a much more meaningful volume my preference is
absolutely the the latter as you know as with Paddy and the UK leadership team them in the same boat
and we will have store in the UK so we've got store in London it's in Knightsbridge that will
absolutely be you know that that's an important brand statement it will also sell it's important
we create that we create that that's part of the Jaguar retail ecosystem you know we want
we want retail customers to come there for the experience as well and we need to make sure that
that experience is you know the purest brand experience that you could have and there are
already ideas that we developed for that store that we're then thinking actually we
know digital ideas in terms of how we present the vehicle for example I think actually
we should do that in the store but we also need to figure out a way of how we're going to deliver
that in all of our retailer outlets as well so for us it should be a bit of a hotbed it
should be a way for us to really push the envelope and do different things try things and then and
actually then cascade them through the broader retail network so it will be that balance that
that we talked about I guess way back when we first spoke to you I've talked to lots of people
for this podcast lots of journalists who've got behind the wheel or been inside the car
incredibly positive feedback lots of them said they absolutely loved it said how much it felt
like a Jaguar I mean most of them were blown away by it do you regret simply not letting the car do
the talking um yeah that's a good question um we needed to do a number of things so the the car
will take us so far but actually the the brand also needed to change so I think we needed to signify
the the the brand is going to make a bold step um and I really think that at that point in time
if you go back to 2024 if you just fast forward and say okay well let's let's let's reinvent ourselves
let's say nothing until this week when we get people in the car that would have been very very
difficult to do I think to take people on that journey and say okay well what's Jaguar doing well
you've you've finished all of your production you've stopped selling the UK but I'm not going to
tell you anything about where you're going so you know for me there is a there is a narrative
that says we start off with Jaguar needs to change we've been very clear with our retail
as to why that needs to change I've been pretty pretty clear with you today as to just for the
logic behind that then okay okay which direction you're going in well we're going in this direction
it's all EV it's going to go up market okay what's it going to look like we think actually the design
language is going to be like this we we like this design language for these reasons and then the next
phase is okay that's great we then spent the last you know we spent 2025 talking about you know the
design vision and then more towards the end of it we then started getting into the dynamics so for
me it's the I guess it's a kind of narrative arc in terms of right well okay you can't you can't
if we'd have just started with that I'm not sure we'd have laid the ground as well but what I you
know more importantly when we unveil the production car in September what I want people to understand
is I want as many people as possible to go right okay yeah I am aware of it I'm interested
you know I'm keen to see what actually this thing looks like you can see when I want to get behind
the wheel but I also understand a number of things I understand why it's such a big change I understand
how it links to our heritage I understand how it's ejaculate so all of the things that we've been
doing more recently I've got a ladder up to that and I guess if you think about the way
absolutely it's the way we plan we start from probably a point in the future and then you work
back and if that's the point I need people to be in when we unveil the car there's a load of work
I needed to have done in the interim which you probably couldn't have done if you just said
all right well let's just let let's just let the car do the talking well when that re-launch
happened you talked about a complete reset for for the brand I mean over the following 18 months
since that re-launch so I mean and some of the people that I've spoken to for this podcast have
said that it feels like JLR since remembered Jaguar's history recent like some of those recent
events you've talked about have referenced those cars of the past I mean that's that's very different
to a complete reset is it not uh no I don't think so I think what we what we always said is in fact
the original brief when if we go back to what was the brief that we gave the design team was
understand our past but don't be harnessed by it don't be you know don't don't don't be constrained
by it so and I guess if you put this another way if I was going to go out there and say okay
I need to tell the world that Jaguar is changing and it's really going in a big direction it's
all future-facing and if the first thing I did was to surround ourselves with an xjc and an e-type
and an xjs and a mart one it would feel like really this is this is a retrospective thing
not a future-facing thing so I think that's always a difficult balance so we chose to say
okay right off the bat this is all about dramatic change of all future-facing and then as I said
in terms of that narrative over time there comes a time and I think the time you know if you think
about what we're doing literally right now is we're starting to talk about the dynamics of the vehicle
which we wouldn't have done in type 00 because type 00 doesn't have particular dynamic capability
it's not it's a it's a concept car so now is the time for us to start talking about dynamic
capability and therefore we go back and tell the story that we did so in 2023 we went back and
you know when we were starting to set out the attributes that's exactly what the engineers
did they went out and they drove they spent days just familiarizing themselves re familiarize
themselves learning about what it is when you drive a jaguar and before we get all technical
everything else is how should it make you feel now actually I can only really tell that story
it would be really odd for me to tell that story 12 months ago because actually we because we were
at 12 months ago we were just talking about look we got a really bold design Rodin how much of this
rebrand was was Jerry McGovern's idea and how much of it will change now he's left Jerry was a you
know Jerry's the chief creative officer it was the chief creative officer here in this organization
and he clearly he was passionate Jaguar was something he was deeply involved in but what's
important to say is you know as with any with it you know with anything in terms of particularly
an automotive there's not one person you know we've got you know we've got teams of people
whether it's people doing the materiality people doing the interior design people doing the exterior
design dynamicists engineers there's a whole host of people there and yeah absolutely I think you
know where we are most indebted to Jerry is you know he probably as much as anybody more than
anybody was really keen that we threw the spear a long way and we were really we really kind of
set ourselves a challenge and I guess a great example of that is when we started the creative
process so we'd finished the initial strategic assessment of right okay how do we want to move
now we need to move into like visually what should these cars look like I think his genius is to say
right I need to put tension into that system because I really want it to be bold and progressive
and different and all of those things so he basically made it competition he basically set all
of the various teams up the entire kind of kind of creative talent within within the enterprise
and over a period of three months we ended up with 18 full-size vehicles with a range of probably four
different design languages of which we then chose this one and that that's about you know that's
you know the sort of thing that's you know Jerry's vision around okay I want to put tension in this
I wanted to be competitive I want to really and so you know undoubtedly Jerry's left a very
strong footprint in terms of what the design language looks like and yeah and personally
you know I'm indebted to him for that you know our job that now is to is to industrialize it
and to bring it to life and that's what we've been doing but I think in terms of the you know
the need to you know he and I spoke about you know we would talk about provenance
yeah I worked really closely with him for the last three years and he absolutely and he understands
luxury brands and he under you know and one of the one of the things about luxury brands that
probably unites pretty much all of them there's one or two exceptions is they all have a provenance
and a history and they have iconic you know products in their past they celebrate they have iconic
people who've been associated with the brand that they celebrate so there was always going to be a
time when we when we were going to do that Jerry's mantra was just don't do it in a retrospective way
you have to do it in a way that's visually different that's forward-looking and I carry
that with me now whenever I'm looking at something I think that's a really good way of doing it so
for example if you look on our social site we looked at what we internally it's called the
origin story we're looking back on you know whether it's the unconventionality or challenging
convention whether it's the use of color whether it's kind of you know the proportions of a vehicle
we're celebrating that on our social site with a series of short films and that is I guess you
know a retrospective but I'd like to think the way it is done and the way it is executed the use
of color etc is very forward-thinking and very progressive and it helps explain where we're
going and yeah it was always that was always going to be part of
the storytelling that we needed to do tell me about what comes next how how does this story
move on okay so I've talked to you a little bit about obviously we've got some key milestones so
you know unveiling in September you know and then formally taking orders right at the end of the
year so the marketing campaign in terms of the launch of the vehicle we're right in the
in the middle of preparing for that what can you expect I think you you should expect us to
it's not going to be if you look at traditional auto launches for one thing they rely very very
heavily on paid if you look at their mix of media channels will probably be much more reliant on
continued to be around owned earned and shared so so social media we think will be an important
platform to tell our story as well as through through the media I would we're keen not to
just replicate things that have always been done in the past in terms of how you launch cars I think
we want to keep that difference that sense of okay well that's a different approach for for a car
brand but what and and crucially what we do is got to cut through so it's got to it's got to cut
through the you know cut through the general kind of noise and permeate people's lives but we need
to do so in a way where the marketing cuts through but actually it's the car that's the star so what
I want I want the marketing to be different and and enable us to get our message across
but at the end of the day people need to be talking about the vehicle its dynamics its looks
its proportions all the things that some of the things you you know that journalists you spoke
into have been so positive about I mean this question sounds a little bit like a performance
review but what what does what what does success look like for Jaguar Rodin I think you know the
first car I mean I know I know what success you know if I if I look over the the the length of
you know we we're making investments we've got we've got a life cycle of X you know I know I know
exactly what the what the financial success of the of Jaguar needs to look like and that's very clear
to me and I'm very clear to you know our new CEO but if I think if I bring it to more medium
term or more short term really the the first car the four-door GT what that car needs to do
is to establish Jaguar at the price point and we've chosen very very specifically why we're
launching with that car and not different models you know a different model in the range it needs
to kind of say okay it is credible for Jaguar to transact at 120 whatever it might be and above
price point so to do that we've got to have an incredible vehicle we've got to have a level of
awareness we've got to have great experiences and the and the vehicle has absolutely got to deliver
in terms of its in terms of its quality and its delivery so that's that's what the car needs to
do so immediately for me actually just setting us in at that price point which again is no small
feat that's probably more than double where we've been transacting prior to the you know on our
prior range but yeah that's that's the benchmark and finally when when the when the history books
are written about this period of Jaguar what do you want them to say that's a good question um
Rodin was underpaid I don't know maybe that was kind of yeah no don't don't say that um
what I want to say I think what you what we want them to say is it's you know my job is to
is to secure the next 90 years of Jaguar's history and actually what we have done here
is paving the way to make the car relevant aspirational and and featured and set us on
that course and you know if you know you know we talk about you know being a custodian of a brand
that's what everybody involved with the Jaguar me included that's right here you know the brand
is permanent my my tenure will be temporary and if if in the history books we say actually this
was a pivotal moment that reset Jaguar back on a course of desirability relevance aspiration
and financial security I'll be very happy when I embarked on producing what was at first
just a simple video about Jaguar I was still of the mindset the brand had made a mistake
that marmite marketing at launch the buzzwords and all the fanfare well it was all a bit too much
but after chatting to everyone for this podcast and having some time to reflect I've realised
what this is really all about it's Jaguar's future like it or not Jaguar before the reset wasn't
working and I think that's what upsets me I was and still am a huge fan of the brand I'd argue
the F type is one of the most beautiful sports cars ever made but beauty can only take you so far
the business case needs to stack up too and sadly for Jaguar that high volume premium model was
taking the firm on a spiral to disaster as divisive as this relaunch has been Jaguar's reset is
certainly different it's bold it's exciting and it's got the brand talked about across the world
whether the rebrand was mistake or genius well only time will tell my thanks must go to everyone
who took part in this special podcast series and my video you can watch that now on the
Cardila Magazine YouTube channel if you've liked this series please let me know you can find me
on LinkedIn or contact me via the Cardila Magazine website and please take a moment to leave us a
review and rating wherever you're listening to this podcast thanks for joining me I'll see you
next time goodbye
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