IT SEEMS unfeasible that unless Jaguar reveals a surprise model over the next few months, it soon won’t have a sports car in its lineup for the first time in its history. Considering the company built its reputation on such cars, starting with the XK120 75 years ago, consolidated in 1961 with the iconic E-Type, for Jaguar not to have a such a car is like a football team missing the goalie or worst still, a roast dinner minus the roast potatoes.
But when production of the special-edition F-Type 75 ends in 2024, it won’t be replaced by a ‘G-Type’ or any other model, ending three-quarters of a century of constant sports car production. Only Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, and Porsche can rival that longevity.
There are two reasons for this. Firstly, following Jaguar Land Rover’s ‘Reimagine’ strategy that was announced by former CEO, Thierry Bolloré, in early 2021 Jaguar plans to become an allelectric company by 2025. After talking to a sports car vehicle integration engineer, Andy Jones, at the recent F-Type 75 event he admitted the company did investigate transforming the car into an EV but there wasn’t room in the boot for the batteries. “You’d lose more than you’d gain,” was how he put it.
Secondly, the other major part of Reimagine will see Jaguar reposition itself as an Aston Martin or Bentley rival and the now decade-old F-Type simply isn’t well-built enough to achieve this. And finally, with sports cars making up a mere 0.7 percent of the European automobile market last year m (source: JATO), it isn’t financially viable for a small company like Jaguar to produce a brand-new car.
This isn’t a recent issue and why the F-Type is partly based on the same chassis as the X150 XK and the X100 generation of XK8 recycled a significant section of the XJS. But these were also traditional petrol-engined cars and so could be adapted easily. The only EV in Jaguar’s current range is the I-Pace which uses a modified version of JRL’s highly versatile D7 platform and is arguably too big for a sports car.
ONLY ASTON MARTIN, BMW, FERRARI, AND PORSCHE CAN RIVAL THAT LONGEVITY
And judging by the fact no other manufacturer – including giants such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Porsche – have
