Jaguar bosses breaks silence on woke backlash as new Type 00 electrical automobile idea automotive is unveiled

Jaguar bosses have doubled-down on the company’s daring rebrand and switch to electric vehicles, with its managing director saying the plan is to be ‘bold and disruptive’ while its chief creative officer defended its radical new look by suggesting the car firm ‘has no desire to be loved by everyone’.

The comments were made overnight during Jaguar’s unveiling of its new Type 00 concept car in the US. 

Two versions, one in ‘London Blue’ and a second in a striking fuchsia tone called ‘Miami Pink’, were revealed to what has been a mixed public reaction.

While not a production model itself, the monumentally-proportioned car signals the design language of the three EVs that will arrive in showrooms from 2026, starting with a £100,000-plus four-door Grand Tourer.

Having already caused a major stir with its controversial rebrand last month, in which it said it will ditch the classic roaring Jaguar motif in favour of contemporary logos and released a 30-second campaign advert featuring a diverse group of models in exuberant fashion wear but no cars, executives last night spoke out to justify the decision to turn a corner on the company’s century-long heritage.

Speaking to Sky News at the Type 00’s launch in Miami in the early hours, managing director Rawdon Glover responded to the suggestion that the company had ‘gone woke’, saying: ‘We want to be bold and disruptive… we’re clearly in the conversation.

He added: ‘More people have been talking about Jaguar for the last two weeks than – goodness, for so much longer. Car companies unveil new cars all the time and go completely unnoticed.’

Chief creative officer Gerry McGovern also welcomed and encouraged the controversy the company had created in recent weeks with ‘an uncompromising creative approach’ and accepted this would polarise opinion, but emphasised: ‘At our very best we have never conformed.’

Mr Glover, who has already hit back at some of the public response to the rebrand, particularly the ‘vile hatred and intolerance’ towards the fashion-heavy social media ad, told Sky News the company had ‘certainly gathered an awful lot of attention over the last few weeks’.

Defending the car maker’s brave new direction, he said: ‘We need to make sure that Jaguar is relevant, is desirable, is future proof for the next 90 years of its history.’

He pointed to a ‘disrupted’ motor industry that’s facing a major challenge ahead of the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel models and a transition to EVs.

‘At Jaguar, we’ve looked at that and we think we have to make a really bold step forward. But actually, the step we’re going to take is completely in keeping in ethos with the brand,’ he added.

When asked if he and the company had anticipated the criticism it has received of late, the Jaguar director said: ‘We absolutely don’t want to alienate any of our loyal fans.

‘Quite the opposite – we want to take as many of our current fans with us on that journey… We need to also appeal to a new audience. That’s what we need to do.’

Mr Glover’s latest comments are somewhat contrasting to quotes given less than a month ago.

During a media-only preview event of the rebrand and striking Type 00 concept in November, he told This is Money that the company foresees 85 per cent of future Jaguar customers to be new to the marque and the JLR company as it looks to cater for a younger audience.

Only 15 per cent – around one in seven – are expected to be existing customers. This was the ‘scale of the transformation’, he said.

He also stressed the car maker had to be ‘fearless’, adding: ‘This is a complete reset. Jaguar is transformed to reclaim its originality and inspire a new generation.’

Gerry McGovern, JLR’s design boss who penned the new Land Rover Defender as well as the latest Range Rover and smaller Range Rover Evoque, also spoke out about Jaguar’s bold strategy last night.   

‘Jaguar has no desire to be loved by everybody, it has already stirred emotions and it will continue to,’ he said at the glitzy event in Miami.

Commenting at the unveiling of the Type 00 concept, he added: ‘Some may love it now. Some may love it later. And some may never love it. And that’s OK. Because that’s what fearless creativity does. This is the original essence of Jaguar.’

He noted: ‘Controversy has always surrounded British creativity when it has been at its best’.

Citing music legend David Bowie, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and architect Sir Richard Rogers among his own ‘creative heroes’, he said: ‘They were British trailblazers who challenged convention and had no desire to copy the norm.

‘In the same way, when Jaguar was at its best, it threw away the rule book and created the E-Type and the XJS.

‘These were objects of desire.’

Highlighting how Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons said his cars should be ‘a copy of nothing’, McGovern said: ‘Type 00 is the first physical manifestation of the new Jaguar brand that is influenced by the desire to recapture the essence of Jaguar’s original creative conviction. This is a taste of things to come.’

He added: ‘For me it has been an honour to lead the creative reimagining of this great British brand.’

Jaguar Type 00 in detail: Exterior

The radical new all-electric Jaguar concept is a two-seat fast-back coupe of huge proportions.

Unfortunately for Jaguar and its preparations for a glamorous reveal, the car was leaked hours before it was due to be officially unveiled in Miami when images of surfaced on forums online earlier in the day.  

Jaguar says the satin ‘Miami Pink’ is based on a colour called Rhodon Rose (Rhodon is Greek for rose). It was chosen ‘in honour of the pastel colours of Miami’s iconic Art Deco architecture’.

A second version of the car in a silver-blue shade called ‘London Blue’ is inspired by the Opalescent Silver Blue of the 1960s ‘and was chosen to reflect Jaguar’s British roots’.

Jaguar said: ‘Just as a pair of E-Types attended its 1961 launch at the Geneva Motor Show, the reveal of the Type 00 celebrates two contrasting interpretations of Jaguar’s new design vision.’

Stretching more than four metres long but just over a metre high, the new low-slung Jaguar EV exhibits almost cartoon-like proportions and styling inside and out.

As such, it has already seen it garner plenty of comparisons to Lady Penelope’s FAB1 Rolls-Royce from Thunderbirds and the Panthermobile from Pink Panther.

The ‘face’ comprises a flat, solid and dominant modernist front grille with sharp razor-like headlights (looking not unlike Iron Man’s helmet from Marvel comics and movies). The horizontal lines of the grille (reflected on the rear) are the new Jaguar symbol.

A long extended bonnet is the start of a sweeping and exaggerated coupe or fastback-like profile, providing a wide low-slung stance and cockpit.

Butterfly-wing (or gullwing) doors open up either side, along with a ‘pantograph’ glassless tailgate to reveal the ‘modernist’ interior.

Bulging rear wheel arches and haunches are matched by a full-width rear light arrangement hidden among the slatted tail section.

Charging ports and front air intakes remain hidden behind the bodywork until needed.

There’s no conventional rear glass window in the tailgate, nor traditional reflective wing mirrors. Instead, hidden digital cameras pop-out ‘theatrically’ to scan the road behind and feed the image to the driver via a screen where an interior mirror would normally be.

The pop-out cameras sit behind brass-finished plates or ‘ingots’ – either side of the car’s front flanks.

A re-designed Jaguar ‘leaper’ symbol is laser-etched into each hand finished brass ingot, within a pattern of horizontal lines. The lines are inspired by early IBM logos. These brass plaques are called the ‘Makers Marks’.

Jaguar says: ‘Consisting of the newly reimagined Jaguar ‘leaper’ that is our precious mark of provenance. Always leaping forward, it is a representation of excellence and hallmark of the brand.’

A panoramic glazed roof is ‘harmonised’ with the body of the car using horizontal lines.

Flat body panels have echoes Tesla’s Cybertruck – itself one of the most controversial models to enter the market.

It has a few tricks up its sleeve, too…

A secret concealed compartment in the car’s door stores a special case for valuables.

The artificially-generated electronic sound of the electric car is ethereal.

Jaguar Type 00 in detail: Interior 

Two stowed digital dashboard screens can pop up for the driver and passenger.

Powered stowage areas slide open on demand revealing splashes of colour.

Three key materials from the interior are: brass, travertine stone, and textiles – including a wool blend interior trim.

Although the car aspires to be environmentally-friendly and ‘green’, the shaped ‘floating’ seats are made of polyurethane – a strong plastic. Leather seats will also be available.

Three hand-finished brass lines run the length of the interior, with a central 3.2-metre long brass spine that splits the pair of floating instrument panels.

Occupants can change the interior ‘mood’ – including the lighting, soundscape, tailored screen graphics, and even scents.