Jaguar is taking the biggest risk any automaker has ever dared to try. It’s dumping its customer base, waving goodbye to its heritage and doing an end run around its dealers. If it works, it will save the company. If it doesn’t, it’s the end of Jaguar.
The Jaguar concept is looking better to my eye, but it still seems like there was a contest at the Jaguar design studio to make the Tesla Cybertruck look better! Or how could they design the Type 00 look like the deep freeze in grandmama’s garage! Why does the concept have a long hood, where the engine normally would go, when it doesn’t have an engine and will probably not have a frunk?! The more I see it, the better it looks, but, while the overall shape reminds me of Jaguar’s of the past, IMHO, the frontend area, where the grill would usually be, looks the least like a Jaguar! I’ve read where others have said it looks like a Chrysler Crossfire. The”face” of the concept looks like it could be on a Hyundai, Kia, Infinity or any other brand. While the shape has presents, I wouldn’t think that frontend, would strike the same impression as that of a Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Bugatti or the Crown from Toyota’s home market! It’s nowhere near as stately as the vehicles in those other brands and the Lucid Air, in my mind, is more in keeping to the spirit of modern Jaguars of the past few years. While I interior is attractive, again, in my mind, classic, traditional luxury (acres of wood trim and the finest, buttery sofa leather and aluminum) appointments, should have been this vehicles calling cards! How can they give it a classic, familiar Jaguar shape on the outside and eschew all of that on the interior?! When you look at and compare the RR Spector EV and this concept, they are miles apart, but are supposed to be reaching for the same costumer base!
wmb,
When you factor in their anticipated sales price of $130K, the concept car is a non-starter. The lack of rear window is a silly choice. The AC grates are also a stupid choice on the exterior. If the production car is based on this, I would hope that they would soften the harsh lines and redesign the front/rear end and of course get rid of the AC grates. The blacked out A-Pillar is a tired design cue and best left in the dustbin of history. When you look at just the center green house, it is not much different in shape to a 2014 Scion TC. Not sure that is what they were going for, but that is what they got. The proportions of the car are not so bad, maybe a tad exaggerated but not bad overall, so they have that going for them.
The interior is terrible. The disappearing screens into an 80s brief case shape when closed is pretty ugly. It is also a feature that is likely to fail and require a pretty expensive repair for no good reason. The flat bench like seat bottoms are a no go. The floating center console looks like they were trying to be stylish, but they veered off into ugly. Then there are AC grate cues all over the interior. Someone at Jaguar really likes AC grates.
One can only hope that cooler heads prevail and the production car does not look exactly like the concept car. It is a rare thing to hope that the production car looks nothing like the concept, but here we are.
Jaguar is done… put a stake in them.