A 1956 Jaguar D-Type Long Nose with other classic Jags competing in the Mille Miglia rally in 2015.Courtesy of manufacturer
My nearly two-year-old daughter likes Jaguars (the cars) because they have images of Jaguars (the animals) on them. She likes the big cat logo, the one with a Jaguar mid-roar bearing its teeth.
The grille of the F-Pace SVR with the Jaguar logo showing its teeth.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
Recently, there was a stately old Jaguar XJ – the X308 model, I think, made between 1997 and 2002 – parked in the neighbourhood. She made us double back to see it. We spent a while looking at the chrome leaping Jaguar hood ornament before heading home for dinner.
Fifty years of the XJ sedan.Courtesy of manufacturer
I haven’t had the heart to tell her that Jaguars (the cars) are becoming an endangered species. (Jaguars, the animals, are doing a little better; they’re not yet on the endangered species list, but they’re threatened by habitat destruction.)
Jaguar is discontinuing every vehicle in its lineup with the exception of the F-Pace SUV. Say goodbye to the midsize XF sedan, the little E-Pace SUV, the beloved F-Type sports car and the oft-forgotten but ahead-of-the-curve I-Pace electric vehicle. Adrian Mardell, Jaguar Land Rover’s chief executive officer, said all the models being discontinued had “close to zero profitability.”
Instead of replacing those models, Jaguar is plotting an (overly?) ambitious reinvention as a maker of high-priced luxury EVs. In its previous iteration, the brand went head-to-head with German giants Mercedes-Benz and BMW, with limited success; now Jaguar is betting it can leapfrog those luxury brands and compete in an even more rarified market against Bentley and Porsche.
Already, this grand reinvention is behind schedule. JLR announced in 2023 its new high-end EV would be on sale that year. So far, however, there’s nothing to show for it, not even a concept car.
“We will launch the brand before the end of this year in the U.S., and we will launch the brand before we launch the products, so brand first, products follow,” Richard Molyneux, JLR’s chief financial officer, said in an earnings call in August. “This really is a once-in-a-generational opportunity to reset, redefine and relaunch a truly iconic British brand,” he said.
But it could be a long time – perhaps later in 2025 – before there’s a new Jaguar in Canadian dealerships.
As for what drivers can expect, Molyneux said only that Jaguar is, “going to be a copy of nothing. It will be exuberant, modernist, unique, fearless and progressive, and we’re really looking forward to revealing new Jaguar to the world.”
Jaguar’s Canadian dealers are reportedly unhappy with the brand’s reinvention. As it shifts upmarket and dramatically reduces its sales volume, Jaguar is pushing dealers to relinquish their franchises, according to Automotive News Canada.
Jaguar’s current woes are not especially surprising. The company hasn’t launched a new model since 2018′s all-electric I-Pace. The British brand is best known for its sedans and sports cars, but the market is increasingly dominated by SUVs. In the United States, which is JLR’s largest market, Jaguar sold about 8,300 cars last year, and 9,700 the year before, according to data from Goodcarbadcar. That’s a far cry from the nearly 40,000 cars Jaguar sold in the United States in 2017.
The F-Pace SUV is the only vehicle not being discontinued from Jaguar's lineup.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
Jag’s F-Pace SUV is by far the brand’s best seller, with 12,905 sold worldwide in the first half of 2024. For context, that’s more than the brand’s sedan and sports car sales combined through the same period.
In the August earnings call, Molyneux said production of the XE, XF and F-Type at the company’s Castle Bromwich factory in England’s West Midlands had already come to an end. It’s a factory that had been making things since the Second World War. First it churned out Spitfire fighter planes, then car body panels for British Leyland and BMC, until Jaguar took over the entire plant in 1977. It’s unclear what, if anything, the plant is making today.
Jaguar E‑Type ’77 RW’ on a demonstration run in Geneva in 1961. Enzo Ferrari called the E-Type the most beautiful car ever made.Courtesy of manufacturer
While hardly surprising, the demise of Jaguar as we know it is a sad reality for anyone who loves cars (or even just the Jaguar cat logo). For one thing, less choice in the new car market is never good for drivers. For another, despite a reputation for less-than-stellar reliability, Jaguar made some spectacularly entertaining cars in recent years. For driving enthusiasts, the brand held – and still holds – so much promise.
Not only is this the company that brought the world all-time greats like the E-Type (which Enzo Ferrari called the most beautiful car ever made), the Mark II, XKR-S GT, several iterations of the XJR super-sedan, not to mention the XJ220 supercar, but it’s also a company that felt – not too long ago – like it was entering a new golden age. Following its sale by Ford to India’s Tata Motors in 2008, the Jaguar side of the Jaguar Land Rover business turned out some truly great cars.
The XKR-S GTCourtesy of manufacturer
I could wax lyrical about the compact XE sedan, launched in 2015, with its three-litre supercharged V6, sharp steering and eager handling. It still looks good all these years later. (Despite knowing it’d be a bad idea, I do still check the classifieds for used ones.) Same goes for Jag’s most recent full-size XJ sedan. The design work by Ian Callum – who also put his creative stamp on the Aston Martin DB7 — was far ahead of its time. Inside and out, the Jag instantly made BMW’s 7 Series and Mercedes’s S-Class look stodgy and dull.
A Jaguar XE at the launch in Spain in 2015.Courtesy of manufacturer
The F-Type sports car, despite being more than 10 years old, is still among the most fun-to-drive two-seaters money can buy. In comparison, a Porsche 911 Carrera feels a bit tame. (Jaguar’s research once found that gambling topped the list of activities F-Type owners do in their leisure time.) Even Jag’s latest 2025 F-Pace SVR, with its 575-horsepower V8, can still hold its own in the overpowered-SUV arena. The infotainment system is laggy and dated, but the thing sounds like rolling thunder and takes corners with rapid enthusiasm. In terms of design and performance, all of these cars were at the top of their respective classes.
All that is done now; the new Jaguar, whenever it arrives, if it arrives, will be a different beast.
The next time my daughter wants to see a Jaguar, I’ll just take her to the zoo.
Matt Bubbers reviews the 2017 Jaguar XE, the luxury maker's most affordable car yet
The Globe and Mail
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