Yahoo Autos Jaguar Scraps Planned Electric XJ, Yet Vows to Go EV Only by 2025
Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to have an electric version of every model it makes starting in 2030, in a strategy called Reimagine.
Jaguar itself, however, will kill off every internal-combustion vehicle only four years from now, becoming an all-EV brand by 2025.
The company had been close to rolling out an electric XJ (pictured above) but has now scrapped that model entirely.
Jaguar Land Rover has joined the rush of automakers committing to an electric future, one that will see the first Land Rover EV arrive as soon as 2024, and the British SUV brand is committing to offering a pure electric version of every model in the range as soon as 2030.
Yet the transformation for Jaguar is going to be considerably more radical. The brand’s entire range of combustion models is set to be axed as soon as 2025. From that point onward, Jaguar will become a solely electric brand, with models set to be built on what the company says is a new platform that won't be shared with Land Rover. The company has also confirmed there is no place for the forthcoming XJ sedan under this Reimagine strategy. The XJ has been scrapped despite being almost ready for market introduction—and despite being an EV. When questioned about the new strategy, JLR CEO Thierry Bolloré refused to promise that Jaguar will offer anything that could be described as a sports car beyond 2025. For a brand long associated with performance sedans, coupes, and roadsters, that marks a revolutionary change.
The official line on the XJ's cancellation was limited to a terse announcement that the car "does not fit with our vision for the reimagined brand." But Car and Driver managed to speak to a well-informed insider who says that the XJ's biggest problem was that "they [the company] didn't think they'd be able to sell enough of them" and that its combination of performance, range, and likely price point "just wasn't attractive when compared to the wider market." The XJ also seems to have fallen afoul of JLR's attempts to rationalize its production base: the Castle Bromwich plant that was to build it is set to be repurposed away from construction once the XE, XF, and F-type currently assembled there are phased out.
