About eight months ago, Jaguar became the laughing stock of the internet. They released what seemed to be the most controversial, out-of-touch rebrand of all time. Graphic designers ripped on the new font and marketing experts roasted the shallow slogans. Everyone asked, "Why don't they just go back to their roots?"
But actually, what are Jaguar's roots?
Jaguar is making a bet on something sinister, and unfortunately, I think it might be a smart play.
The latest rebrand isn't Jaguar's first identity crisis. The brand has struggled to define itself forever. It started as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, then Swallow Coachbuilding, then SS Cars. The founder (William Lyons) had a simple formula of building stylish cars that looked as expensive as a Bentley but cost a fraction of the price. It was a sort of attainable luxury.
This peaked in 1961 with the E-Type car model offered by the brand. It looked new and modern, which led even Enzo Ferrari to call it the most beautiful car ever made. It had the performance to back up its style, costing half as much as an Aston Martin. Everyone wanted one. It was peak Jaguar.
But the 60 years that came after have not been kind. The decline started when Jaguar joined British Leyland in 1968. The cars kept the quirky British charm but gained a reputation for poor construction. The old Jaguar meant cheap cars that felt expensive, while the new Jaguar was expensive cars that felt cheap. By the 90s, Jaguar's real identity was "old people cars." They were sold in old-person Beige Metallic. Ford tried to fix this in 2001 with the X-Type rebranding. They failed entirely. Young people didn't want a mini-XJ.
Which brings us to the present. Jaguar has stopped making their current cars to focus on building super-luxury, 200,000 USD EVs. They have completely overhauled their entire company.
The "delete ordinary" slogans and fluid models are meant to make a certain type of person feel a certain way. And the fact that some don't want to feel that way doesn't mean the rebrand is bad. The customer Jaguar used to go for, the "attainable luxury" buyer, seems to be fading away. Upwardly mobile consumers aren't the consumer base they once were. Jaguar is placing a bet that the middle ground is dead. We might not like it, but that doesn't mean it isn't smart.