Jaguar Type 00 Concept Car Design

This post is being drafted 4 December, two days after the formal unveiling of Jaguar's Type 00 battery-powered concept car design, and a week or so following release of a controversial video commercial hyping Jaguar management's attempted revitalization of the brand.  Plenty of Internet bytes and pixels have been spilled already regarding the ad and now the two concept cars.

The reaction seems mostly negative.  On the other hand, Caleb Miller's favorable Car and Driver take on the Type 00 includes the following:

"I figured when the rest of the world saw the car, people would start to get it.  Jaguar has been stagnant and flailing, as its attempts to compete with Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the more mainstream luxury market have failed.  Recent efforts like the F-type and the XF were pretty, but they weren't distinctive or special enough to move Mercedes and BMW customers away.  Survival required something completely fresh, and moving into more expensive and exclusive segments will allow Jaguar's designers to not worry about mass-market appeal."

"Jaguar is trying to capture younger, wealthier, and more style-focused buyers, with plans to establish stores in high-end luxury shopping districts in cities such as Paris and London.  A large part of the rebrand and reveal of the Type 00 is simply getting the brand reestablished in the minds of potential customers.  The Type 00 was designed to generate hype, and this is probably the most attention Jaguar has gotten in the U.S. in decades, and possibly ever.  On those fronts, the Type 00 succeeds.  It may not rival the E-type's elegance or beauty, but it makes a statement that Jaguar has a future and that the path forward will be a different one."

The production embodiment of Jaguar's new direction is said to be a sedan due to appear in 2026.  The extent to which the Type 00 coupes preview the production model is unknown to me at this time.

I'll discuss Type 00 styling in the Gallery below.  As for Jaguar management's thoughts and actions, I offer the following:

The need to do something dramatic to enhance brand presence and excite potential buyers seems clear to me.  However, the proposed move to a higher price range might well be mistaken, given the size of that market and the number of potentially competing car models currently available.  Is it wise for Jaguar to become another limited sales potential Aston Martin sporting brand?  Or maybe sedan (saloon) competition to well-established Bentley and Rolls-Royce?  Not to mention the rarified models offered by the likes of Mercedes and BMW.

Then there is the matter of Jaguar's bad timing.  When the repositioning was made manifest in program planning, engineering and styling -- probably around two years ago -- it was assumed that BEVs (battery-powered electric vehicles) were surely the wave of the future, thanks to actions by various governments.  But during 2024, market demand for BEVs drastically declined, approaching collapse in some places.  Carmakers investing heavily in BEVs now seem to be in serious potential or actual trouble.  Luxury BEVs  don't strike me as being Jaguar's survival lifeline.

Images below are via Jaguar.

Gallery

BEV designs don't have to be wind-tunnel tested for the American market.  That's because fuel economy is essentially irrelevant for a carmaker's BEV line.  That might explain the brick shape of the Type 00's lower body.  (However, aerodynamic efficiency would be a battery power usage consideration for potential buyers.)

For some reason (fashion?) many current production BEV designs are simpler, less-cluttered than those of typical gasoline-powered cars.  The latter are fuel-efficiency constrained and wind-tunnel tested.  So their basic shapes vary little across brands, and stylists are reduced to trying to distinctly decorate those standard shapes to provide brand identity.

The windshield is drastically sloped, in contrast to the car's blunt front end.  The passenger compartment greenhouse hints at some past Jaguar coupe designs.  Doors open by pivoting upwards.

I'm not sure why the backlight window seems to be blanked over.  Perhaps some high-tech touch is involved.  Or maybe it's an example of show-car visual jazz.

Little streamlining is evident in this overhead view.
I'm inclined to agree with the observers who state that Jaguar is abandoning almost all of its historic market base, and that creating a new, profitable clientele might well be impossible.  Maybe they (1) might have gone slightly downmarket with flashier styling, while (2) building a V-16 line with flashy styling for the big spenders