Jaguar reveals a $130,000 all-electric vehicle. Why?

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At a darkly lit event in a Manhattan warehouse this week, actress Florence Pugh, Knicks player Karl-Anthony Towns as well as throngs of influencers all gawked at the Jaguar Type 01, the British automaker’s first new model in nearly a decade.

A sizzle reel showed the $130,000 all-electric vehicle racing through New York in a style straight out of “Tron.” Then, Jaguar Managing Director Rawdon Glover took the stage.

“Tonight we can say, ‘Jaguar is back,’” he said to rapturous applause.

Nearly two years after Jaguar unveiled its controversial new logo , the prestigious automaker is doubling down on its futuristic rebrand with a new model that mirrors the divisive look. But a high-end EV is a tough sell .

Jaguar once went head-to-head with competitors like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, making splashy appearances in James Bond films. But the brand’s shimmer has worn off over the decades, first under Ford and then under India’s Tata Motors, which bought Jaguar Land Rover in 2008.

More recently, Jaguar has struggled with leadership turnover and an aging lineup, ending production for most models two years ago while newer rivals like Tesla, Lucid and Porsche sped past.

But Jaguar has returned with a vehicle that doesn’t look like its predecessors in the hopes that it will attract a younger buyer. First revealed as a concept car in 2024 , the Type 01 is the 104-year-old brand’s “most aerodynamic Jaguar ever,” according to a press release.

The iconic leaping Jaguar hood ornament got the axe, as did the round, wide-set headlights. The sedan has a distinct, boxy silhouette and the ability to drive up to 450 miles on a full charge and accelerate to 62 miles per hour in just three seconds.

At first glance, it’s “competitive and attractive,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst for Mobility Global.

“They were looking for a new buyer entirely, in the sense that it’s not old school luxury at all,” she told CNN, adding that it’s “for somebody who’s identifying a little bit differently with how they want to demonstrate luxury.”

In 2024, Jaguar was looking to reinvent itself. The once iconic automaker had stripped itself down, selling only one model in the US and not a single one in the British market .

Jaguar hit the reset button that year, rolling out a new logo and polarizing branding that highlighted its upcoming all-electric vehicle lineup.

However, Brinley said any blowback was brief and the controversy reignited interest in the company.

“It certainly brought a big lens to this project and contributed to how closely it’s being watched,” she said.

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Plus, the new look is part of a shift back to Jaguar’s designer roots, said Sean Tucker, managing editor for Kelly Blue Book, pivoting from the mass market brand it was under Ford.

The original E-Type sports car from the 1960s, identifiable by its sweeping curves and long hood, Jaguar was “almost sort of a fashion brand,” he said. But that ethos has been lost under different owners that had different theories for how to run the company.

“(Jaguar is) moving into a whole different tax bracket effectively where they’re competing with Aston Martin and Ferrari,” he said.

At Tuesday’s event, Jaguar invited a crowd that it was likely hoping would buy a Type 01: Young, rich and influential. But assembling the VIP list is probably the easiest part of the launch.

“They need to find buyers that are willing and interested in the electric space, and there has been a lack of interest to some degree for electric vehicles in the higher-end sedan market,” Brinley said. And with the six-figure price tag, the Type 01 is likely for a multiple car household.

Jaguar hasn’t publicly disclosed sales goals for when the Type 01 is released next year. But the US could be a tough market.

Electric vehicles accounted for just under 10% of US new car sales last year, and sales have faced difficulty following the expiration of a federal tax credit for EV buyers. Tesla, the nation’s largest EV maker, reported last week that third quarter sales fell 2% from a year ago.

International sales are a different story. Tucker thinks the Type 01 will likely see success in Europe and Asia. Sales of electric vehicles there have risen dramatically, according to the International Energy Agency , as the energy crisis drags on.

But the high-end EV category that Jaguar is entering is already crowded and has several rivals, including the Porsche Taycan, Mercedes EQS and Lucid Air — all of which have struggled in sales.

The Type 01 is just one vehicle of a broader relaunch for Jaguar, with all future vehicles being electric and priced in the same neighborhood.

For Brinley, the Type 01 is a good first step. “However, they’ve still got a lot of work to do because it won’t be one car that sort of revives them as a brand,” she said.

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本周，在曼哈顿一个仓库灯光昏暗的活动中，女演员弗洛伦斯·皮尤、尼克斯队球员卡尔-安东尼·唐斯以及众多有影响力的人士都对捷豹Type 01——这家英国汽车制造商近十年来推出的首款新车型——啧啧称奇。

一段精彩的宣传片展示了这款价值 13 万美元的全电动汽车在纽约街头飞驰，其风格宛如电影《创战纪》中的场景。随后，捷豹汽车公司总经理罗顿·格洛弗登台亮相。

“今晚我们可以说，‘捷豹回来了！’”他说道，赢得了热烈的掌声。

捷豹发布备受争议的新标志近两年后，这家享有盛誉的汽车制造商正加倍推进其未来主义品牌重塑，推出一款与这一褒贬不一的设计相呼应的新车型。但高端电动汽车的销售前景并不乐观。

捷豹曾一度与梅赛德斯-奔驰和宝马等竞争对手正面交锋，并在詹姆斯·邦德系列电影中惊艳亮相。但几十年来，捷豹的光环逐渐褪去，先是在福特旗下，后又在印度塔塔汽车的掌控下（塔塔汽车于2008年收购了捷豹路虎）。

近年来，捷豹一直受到领导层更迭和产品线老化的困扰，两年前停止了大部分车型的生产，而特斯拉、Lucid 和保时捷等新兴竞争对手则迅速超越了它。

但捷豹携一款与以往车型截然不同的新车回归，希望以此吸引更年轻的消费者。这款名为Type 01的车型最初于2024年以概念车的形式亮相，根据新闻稿，它是这家拥有104年历史的品牌“有史以来空气动力学性能最佳的捷豹车型”。

标志性的跃豹车标被取消了，圆形宽头灯也随之消失。这款轿车拥有独特的方正轮廓，充满电后续航里程可达450英里，百公里加速仅需3秒。

Mobility Global 的首席汽车分析师 Stephanie Brinley 表示，乍一看，它“很有竞争力，也很有吸引力”。

“他们正在寻找全新的买家，因为这完全不是老派的奢侈品，”她告诉 CNN，并补充说，这“是为那些在展现奢侈方面有不同认同感的人准备的”。

2024年，捷豹寻求重塑自我。这家曾经的标志性汽车制造商已经大幅缩减规模，在美国只销售一款车型，在英国市场则一款也没有销售。

那一年，捷豹按下重启键，推出了新的标志和极具争议的品牌形象，重点宣传其即将推出的全电动汽车系列。

然而，布林利表示，任何负面影响都是短暂的，而且这场争议重新燃起了人们对该公司的兴趣。

“这无疑为这个项目带来了更广阔的视角，也使得它受到了更多关注，”她说。

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此外，凯利蓝皮书的执行主编肖恩·塔克表示，新造型也是捷豹回归其设计师根源的一部分，使其从福特时期的大众市场品牌转型而来。

他说，20世纪60年代的初代E-Type跑车以其流畅的曲线和修长的引擎盖而闻名，捷豹“几乎算得上是一个时尚品牌”。但随着不同所有者对公司经营理念的转变，这种精神逐渐消逝。

“（捷豹）实际上已经进入了一个完全不同的税级，他们正在与阿斯顿·马丁和法拉利竞争，”他说。

在周二的活动中，捷豹邀请了一批它很可能希望购买Type 01的贵宾：年轻、富有且有影响力。但组建VIP名单或许只是发布会上最简单的部分。

布林利表示：“他们需要找到愿意且对电动汽车感兴趣的买家，而高端轿车市场对电动汽车的兴趣在某种程度上一直不足。” 鉴于Type 01高达六位数的售价，它很可能更适合拥有多辆车的家庭。

捷豹尚未公开披露明年Type 01上市时的销售目标。但美国市场可能竞争激烈。

去年，电动汽车在美国新车销量中占比略低于10%，随着联邦政府对电动汽车购买者提供的税收抵免政策到期，电动汽车的销售面临困境。美国最大的电动汽车制造商特斯拉上周公布，第三季度销量同比下降2%。

国际销售情况则有所不同。塔克认为Type 01很可能在欧洲和亚洲取得成功。据国际能源署的数据显示，随着能源危机持续蔓延，这些地区的电动汽车销量已大幅增长。

但捷豹即将进入的高端电动汽车市场已经非常拥挤，并且有好几个竞争对手，包括保时捷 Taycan、梅赛德斯 EQS 和 Lucid Air——所有这些车型的销量都不佳。

Type 01 只是捷豹更大规模复兴计划中的一款车型，未来所有车型都将是电动汽车，价格也大致相同。

对布林利来说，Type 01 是一个良好的开端。“然而，他们还有很多工作要做，因为这不会是一辆能够让他们品牌重焕生机的车，”她说。