Jaguar Rawdon Glover on the Type 00 Concept and Reinvention

Jaguar has faced a turbulent period recently. A year ago, the marque unveiled its rebrand and showed us the radical Type 00 Concept. We have now experienced a passenger ride in a prototype: a 1,000bhp tri-motor GT prototype. The finished model will be revealed in 2026.

It is therefore time to sit down with Jaguar managing director Rawdon Glover.

Let’s start with the big question – why did Jaguar need a total reinvention?

Rawdon Glover: We had clearly been competing in the volume premium market, a space generally dominated by German brands, though not solely by them. It was not working. Jaguar was not commercially successful. That left us at a crossroads, because carrying on as before and saying “well, let’s just do what we’re doing and sell more", doesn’t work.

The Volkswagen Group sells between seven and ten million cars, whereas we sell four or five hundred thousand. The manufacturing economics are completely different. Although this is described as the premium segment, it is fiercely competitive, so we had to change direction.

Why this decision to go lower volume, higher price?

When you consider where JLR’s business model genuinely succeeds, it is with Range Rover, which has a markedly different pricing position and product proposition. That gave us something of a blueprint for the economics, as well as for using our engineering resources and design capability.

Looking at the periods when Jaguar has been successful, it had a highly focused line-up. For most of its history, the brand was defined by beautiful sports cars and elegant saloons - produced in limited numbers, sold at higher prices, and usually doing things differently to rivals. Our history offers many examples, from disc brakes and aerodynamic development in the 1950s to the E-Type changing the rules.

Our founder, Sir William Lyons, said Jaguar was at its strongest when it was “a copy of nothing". When everyone else is heading in one direction, that is fine - you need the confidence in your own beliefs to do something different.

That thinking brought us to where we are now. To us, the connection with our past is very apparent. We know how a Jaguar should feel to drive, and we believe we understand the brand from a dynamic perspective. We understand the company’s DNA - what motivates it, its purpose and why it exists. I truly believe that, if Sir William Lyons were alive today, he would say “that is what a 21st century Jaguar should look like.”

What exactly is this ‘higher price point’ you’re talking about?

In the UK, our average transaction price was previously about £55,000. This will be more than twice that amount, placing the UK centre of gravity at roughly £120,000.

The launch edition of the new car will begin at £140,000. That is the price context in which to view it. In the market we intend to enter, premium brands do extend beyond £130,000, but they generally peak at around £120,000 to £130,000. Above that sit the ultra-luxury marques - Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce - which do not really offer anything below £300,000. That leaves a substantial gap, particularly at its lower end.

Tell us about the reaction to the Type-00 concept and the rebrand, from your point of view.

The response has been fascinating, and it closely reflects the clinic findings. One group understands it immediately, loves it and wants to see it. Another says, “I don’t understand it. I don’t know where Jaguar has gone". Yet, once you explain the story and the thinking behind it, they respond: “Okay, I get it now".

There is also a group that says, “I understand it, but it’s not for me". That is absolutely fine.

Consider the E-Type: its creators were not aiming to be nice - they were aiming to be bold. They set out to make something the world had never previously seen. When it arrived at Geneva in 1961, it seemed as if it had come from Mars. That is the standard we are pursuing. Only time will tell, but it is the challenge facing both me and the wider team. We want to build vehicles that people are still discussing 50 years from now.

That is what Jaguar ought to be doing - rather than trying to capture a share of the compact SUV market, something we had been attempting without success.

What’s been the biggest challenge in bringing this first car to production?

We arrived at a design concept that could not work on any existing architecture, whether ours or anybody else’s. Those proportions are the reason it resembles nothing else. We therefore created our own platform, the Jaguar Electric Architecture. The next challenge was retaining those proportions: keeping the car low, fitting 23in wheels, achieving 400 miles of range, and preserving its purity. It requires engineering dedication, tenacity and ingenuity - areas in which we are particularly strong.

That is the Jaguar reinvention story in brief. It means obsessing over the details and carrying out exceptionally complex engineering so that we do not need to compromise on dynamics, range, appearance or comfort. Above all, it is a new Jaguar - it looks unlike anything else, drives like a Jaguar and offers remarkable performance, much of it made possible by EV technology.

This is not an EV-first relaunch. Simply being an EV is no longer sufficient. At this price point, customers make emotional purchases. The car must inspire irrational desire. That is why we discarded the EV rulebook - no cab-forward proportions and no generic SUV posture. There is a role for that in the mid-market, but not in this segment.

What does success look like? Have you set a target number?

Success is not defined by a single moment. We have invested in a new platform and a new body line at Solihull. I know the return required across the life cycle - roughly eight years - and it will come through a mix of price and volume. We are launching with a four-door GT not because it is the largest segment, but because it establishes Jaguar at that price point.

What’s next? Are you looking at a three-model range like Lamborghini or Bentley?

The era of seven or eight models has ended. Anticipate a tightly focused range, with every model positioned around comparable price points.