The long-awaited electric replacement for the Jaguar XJ has been written out of the company’s long-term strategy as it looks to transition to an electric-only luxury brand from 2025.
According to Jaguar Land Rover’s bold new Reimagine plan to transform the company’s fortunes, Jaguar will undergo “a renaissance to emerge as a pure-electric luxury brand with a dramatically beautiful new portfolio of emotionally engaging designs and pioneering next-generation technologies”.
The electric XJ – first previewed nearly two years ago and spotted several times in advanced road testing – “will not form part of the line-up”.
JLR said: “Following a thorough technology review against the exponential change in the automotive industry, we concluded that the planned XJ replacement does not fit with our vision for a reimaged Jaguar brand.
“We have made the tough decision that it will not form part of the line-up, as the brand looks to realise its unique potential.”
The Reimagine strategy does suggest that the XJ name could be retained for use on one of Jaguar’s new exclusively electric models. The brand will use its own bespoke EV architecture, separate from the two new platforms planned for its Land Rover sister brand, as part of a move to give the two brands disparate personalities.
The news of the XJ’s cancellation comes with the confirmation that JLR is “not discontinuing current products and does not plan to stop production of any present models early”. However, Thierry Bolloré has confirmed that the Castle Bromwich facility, where it would have been produced, will be repurposed after the models currently in production are phased out. It has yet to be revealed what the plant will be used for instead.
Jaguar’s new EV platform will be built alongside Land Rover’s MLA architecture at JLR’s Solihull production facility.
It’s unknown whether Jaguar will seek to launch a flagship electric luxury saloon to replace the scrapped XJ, but it did note: “We are talking about vehicles which will be available from 2025 onwards, when the industry won’t necessarily be defined by the same segments.”
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