JLR wound down production of its old Jaguar models in 2024 and 2025. The “woke” row, while it possibly made life briefly uncomfortable for the company’s leadership, did at least keep the Jaguar name in the public consciousness at a time when it was selling very few cars.
“It brought Jaguar from the back pages to the front pages, given that it was dying in a crowded international market,” says Schmidt. “Everyone is now talking about what would have been another boring product.”
The GT is expected to be the first of three new electric designs from Jaguar.
Since that event in Miami two years ago, McGovern has left the company, JLR has parted ways with the agency behind the controversial rebranding campaign, and the company also has a new chief executive.
But the future of Jaguar itself still hangs in the balance.
“I think it really is a last throw of the dice,” says automotive journalist Steve Fowler. “JLR has struggled to make serious money with Jaguar in the past, and that’s what it’s all about.”
The question now is whether enough buyers can be found willing to pay £130,000 for a relatively distinctive upmarket electric car, in a market where they can also choose models from the likes of Porsche, Mercedes-AMG or even fast-growing Chinese brands such as Denza.
“Forget the controversy, the culture wars and the pink concept car,” says Ginny Buckley of the electric car website Electrifying.com.
“What ultimately matters is whether Jaguar has built something extraordinary enough to justify blowing up everything it stood for before.”
She believes the car is good enough to silence critics, but admits “the next challenge will be getting people to buy it”.
Steve Fowler agrees. “The car is good enough to do it,” he says. “Whether the Jaguar brand is good enough remains to be seen.”