Jaguar Revives Petrol Engine After Disastrous ‘Woke’ Rebrand
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is exploring plans to develop a new petrol-powered engine after coming under fire over its controversial ‘woke’ rebrand. The Telegraph has more.
The company is reportedly drawing up proposals for a vehicle powered partly by a combustion engine, despite earlier pledges to go “all electric”.
The new car, which is said to be in the early stages of development, would be classed as a “range-extended electric vehicle”, which uses a small petrol engine to charge the main battery powering the vehicle.
While these vehicles would still be powered mainly by an electric engine, they are technically not classed as zero-emissions under the UK’s electric vehicle sales quotas because of the combustion element, according to the Sunday Times.
The move will be viewed as a sign of retrenchment at the carmaker, which has struggled with a rebrand of the business away from the traditional “Jag Man” image.
Under its “Reimagine” programme, JLR has been phasing out older Jaguar models, with plans to move to a new electric line-up.
However, its strategy has faced criticism, with an advert for the relaunch in late 2024 branded ‘woke’ after it featured a cast of androgynous-looking models but no cars.
It later unveiled a pink concept car which was mocked for its Barbie style and likened to the FAB 1 car driven by Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds.
While bosses at JLR, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata, have defended strategy, the company parted ways with the designer behind the rebrand late last year.
A new chief executive, PB Balaji, also took the helm last November, replacing Adrian Mardell.
It has fuelled fresh questions over the future direction of the company, which has vowed to sell electric versions of all its luxury brands by 2030.
The first of the new electric Jaguars is due to be released later this year, which will be a four-door saloon that is expected to sell for more than £100,000.
However, recently, carmakers have raised concerns over demand for electric vehicles.
Earlier this month, a top executive at Vauxhall owner Stellantis Emanuele Cappellano warned that drivers would be unlikely to buy electric vehicles (EVs) without significant discounts.
The industry is urging Labour to relax rules aimed at phasing out the sale of new petrol cars by 2030 and hybrids by 2035 amid claims that regulations forcing carmakers to sell more EVs mean there is “no room for profit”.
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“likened to the FAB 1 car driven by Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds”
Sure, though it was normally Parker, her butler and chauffeur, who drove.
She’d have been lost without Parker 😁
https://youtu.be/8R0hB65G7T0?si=VZl31JgJMT_n_wNt
I think this was their finest moment
Lady Penelope & Parker Stop The Burglars Escaping – Thunderbirds
Love it! The music, Parker’s snoring and exaggerated, “I knows me place” accent, Lady Penelope’s crown insignia over the bed and her nonchalant no fuss demeanor: sublime TV that gave children the opportunity to suspend disbelief and animate the animation with their imagination 👌. I remember being genuinely terrified by the giant crocodiles episode over 50 years ago!
Parker seems to have some
kind of machine gun and Lady P seems to have a shotgun
Well with her unruffled demeanor and superior rank she’s bound to be the better shot; and what with Parker’s off duty drinking habits the machine gun complements his “shakes” 😁
A professional chauffeur once told me that the Jaguar XJ6 was good for a cheap car.
On the other hand, when I was a house surgeon, the consultant surgeon and anaesthetist used to argue about the relative merits of their Roller and Mercedes. When I was asked what car I drove, and replied “A Mini Estate,” it stopped the conversation.
My friend at school had what seemed to me at the time like a rich Dad – they had a colour TV, a utility room and a Sodastream, and two Jags in the drive, one of which was an XJ6.
“The industry is urging Labour to relax rules aimed at phasing out the sale of new petrol cars by 2030 and hybrids by 2035 amid claims that regulations forcing carmakers to sell more EVs mean there is “no room for profit”.”
Tsk, nasty carmakers, don’t they know that profit is basically an evil thing which is obviously destroying the planet.
They’ll follow President Trump, who’s way ahead of the curve (as normal)
And the woke rebrand was so bad the chief designer and CEO, both men, had to leave the company in shame. Despite women allegedly “manufacturing and pushing” the woke agenda…How does that work, then?🤔🤦♀️
Not sure, though it occurs to me that all of those trans-women supported by those ‘manufacturing and pushing’ the agenda ARE men, so there’s that, I suppose?
I was under the impression that woke men were basically like unicorns. But it would appear that Jaguar have wokeified their beautiful classic cars into Barbiemobiles and rainbow monstrosities, and the individuals responsible for this debacle are both…men.🤯 Go figure.
Is that the sound of a closely held narrative being decimated…?💣😁
Reverse thrust has been engaged. Petrol engines making a comeback not a moment too soon.
Grandad washed cars wih Bill Lyons after the Great War, Blackpool Brown and Malileu. He’d be pleased if Swallow Sidecars, SS Jaguar, got back to basics.
Maybe Jaguar know something that Miliband doesn’t know, or maybe they just realise that you cannot live in a fantasy land forever, and that NET ZERO will collapse. It is just a case of how much damage the eco fundamentalists can do in the meantime. —–And Miliband has 3 more years of scorched earth to go
Maybe JLR have noticed that the Prius and its followers is a car with a small petrol engine which powers electric motors and is called a hybrid. Maybe they’ve noticed that hybrids are being banned later than full petrol cars.