Jaguar revealed its ambitious electric Type 00 concept three weeks ago at Miami Art Week. The British luxury automaker is in the middle of a complete rebrand featuring a divisive new branding scheme and a soon-to-be-unveiled four-door electric GT. While the worst people online are still bashing their keyboards, Jaguar is blocking out the noise and listening to the most important voices: actual prospective customers.
If people loved what Jaguar was before the ongoing transformation, they never used their wallets to say it. The company needs to sell cars to keep its lights on, and becoming a low-volume, high-end electric automaker is the best way to do so. Managing director Rawdon Glover explained the manufacturer’s new direction in an interview with Top Gear:
“We have researched this intensely,” he tells TopGear.com. “We’ve spoken to about 1,000 prospective clients, across the UK, North America, Europe, and China. We’ve talked to them in detail about our brand. And we’ve shown them the model lineup. One of the tools we use is conjoint analysis, which is very good at getting to what people are prepared to pay for a product.”
“We show them the exterior, then the interior, talk about the specification. That gives us confidence in this product proposition – it’s got to be a step change from what we do today and it’s got to look like it’s worth £120,000. We put it in that context of competitor cars as well. Some people get it straight away and think it’s fantastic, want to order one. Some people, it’s not for them.”
I’m in the camp who gets it. Jaguar is taking a well-informed risk to reinvent itself with truly distinctive styling. The brand didn’t have the luxury of resting on wilted laurels. Something had to change to garner new customers. Be sure to read Top Gear’s entire interview with Glover and keep your eyes peeled for the new GT next year.
