Images of disguised prototype circulate as brand ramps up to reveal a concept in the US in early December. But where does all this leave NZ?

THE new cat’s not entirely out of the bag - but Jaguar has started to reveal a little more of its future plans, ahead of the full unveiling of a new all-electric concept car next month.

The product that it intends to fully unveil as a styling study at Miami Art Week, which kicks off in Florida in the United States on December 2, might well be the car that is the subject of the images of a heavily-disguised vehicle here, sent out by Jaguar in the United Kingdom this week. Or it might not.

Jaguar’ international status as a seller of new cars in the here and now is … murky.

Jaguar Land Rover New Zealand still seems to have stock of Jaguar product that the parent brand has stopped making. But it has yet to clarify if it has enough to keep the showrooms filled in 2025, and with what.

The only car that seems to have skipped the mass execution of all the models Jaguar the brand kicked into 2024 with is the F-Pace. All the others, including the fully electric i-Pace, have now ceased production.

Moreover, in the United Kingdom, Jaguar as a brand isn’t selling any new cars - bar those which remain in stock in dealerships. Effectively, the company in the home territory has cleared house ahead of the development and launch of a new family of all-electric cars.

Confirmed so far are a low-slung four-door sedan-coupe, a larger SUV and a sports car of some sort.

Switching to an all-electric lineup is a big dice throw for any brand, but perhaps all the moreso here given the parlous state of the EV market.

Four years of increasing promise came to a skidding halt pretty much as soon as rebates ceased; even though those were just for cars up to $80,000, all types of EV have fallen from grace.

That’s not the only influence. Consumers are now fully aware of the very poor residual values; horror stories about how quickly and dramatically cars of all ilk and price zones value are rife. The most dramatic casualties are the premium products. Some EVs do not seem to be accepted as trades, now.

Jaguar’s switch to electric also brings with it a move into the uber-premium sector; it intends to take on the likes of Bentley with its new models, selling fewer cars but at a much higher price and profit margin. So it is going to have far fewer models, and will dramatically increase the prices.

Jaguar UK is behind the sharing of images showing a heavily camouflaged prototype that is apparently is now hitting the roads and test tracks of the world. Jaguar NZ has shared nothing. At least, not with this writer.

This model is the four-door ‘electric GT’ as Jaguar calls it, and while the camouflage doesn’t give us many hints as to what lies beneath, it’s apparent this car seems to have a much longer nose than is normal for an EV, with a prominent grille and a sharply-sloping fastback rear end.

Jaguar UK has left impression with media in that market that the new models won’t look like classic Jaguars but will instead shock and surprise in the manner which the original XK120, E-Type and XJ saloon did when they were launched.

That said, a long bonnet and a short rear end is a classical Jaguar proportion, so as one outlet says “perhaps the baby isn’t quite being thrown out with the bathwater.”

All of the new cars will be based on a dedicated electric architecture called JEA (Jaguar Electric Architecture), made at Jaguar’s plant at Solihull in the UK.

Insofar as whatever happens with Jaguar NZ? It’s been made clear that the new products are not 2025 releases; the first will not roll out until 2026, according to multiple media sources. Given that NZ is the farthest right hand drive market, and that it historically doesn’t see brand new product from the UK until at least a year after production begins … well, who can say when the first JEA cars will land here?

And who can say what Jaguar here will have to do to maintain customer interest, or retention?

But much is at play as Jaguar has especially long-lived historical standing here.

The brand’s presence here goes back to before World War II, and almost before it was Jaguar. The NZ franchise was picked up by Archibald and Shorter, still a JLR dealership today, back when Jaguar was still SS cars. By the time the first product arrived, that had been rectified.

All this plays out after recent news that the current boss of JLR NZ, Steve Kenchington, will relinquish that post in February to undertake a big promotion within Giltrap Group, which has rights to multiple mainstream and premium brands.