Ahead of its electrification plans as laid out in its Reimagine strategy, Jaguar will be putting on hold any new model launches until 2025 and instead focus on the development of its all-new range of electric vehicles, reported French news site Le Monde.
This comes as the British manufacturer is shifting its focus even further upmarket to no longer competing with the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, instead moving its aim towards Bentley and Porsche, the report said. Until the rollout of the new product line, Jaguar will depend on its existing range of vehicles, which will be simplified to have a reduced range of variants, it said.
The strategy has been laid out by CEO Thierry Bollore, who has overseen the cancellation of a number of projects such as the large sedan successor to the current XJ as well as a lower-slung, pure EV Land Rover model, the French publication reported.
There will be no planned closure of production plants between now and the rolling out of its EV range in 2025, the publication has observed, though the manufacturer will be downsizing its workforce from 42,000 to 35,000 employees along with a significant reduction in costs, it said.
The planned shift upmarket away from the relatively mainstream premium segment occupied by Mercedes-Benz and BMW will see Jaguar return to its core luxury roots, and in comparison with compatriot Bentley, the marque from Crewe sells between 10,000 and 12,000 vehicles annually, while Jaguar sold 90,000 units last year against a target of 200,000 and is therefore in a very difficult financial position, automotive consultant Inovev noted.
The cancellation of the aforementioned XJ successor and low-slung Land Rover models meant that work on the joint platform that was to be shared with Land Rover has been cancelled as well, as these have been found to fall short of technology and emissions targets, Jaguar Land Rover CFO Adiran Mardell said in March.
In that same month, Jaguar Land Rover was also reported to be cutting production capacity by 25% by 2026, as well as lower its break-even point from 600,000 units to 400,000 units.
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