Jaguar had four new cars coming before going all-electric, and the story of what got left behind is turning heads. The British luxury brand built its last combustion-powered car in December 2024, closing a long chapter of V8 rumbles and leather-lined sedans. But according to the man who shaped Jaguar’s modern look for two decades, that ending didn’t have to happen the way it did. Four fully developed, next-generation Jaguars were killed to clear the runway for a single electric grand tourer that still hasn’t reached a single customer.
- Former Jaguar design chief Ian Callum revealed that replacements for the XF sedan, XJ flagship, F-Pace SUV, and F-Type sports car were all actively in development before being scrapped.
- Jaguar currently sells zero new vehicles while it prepares the Type 00 electric GT, which won’t see customer deliveries until early 2027.
- The brand is repositioning itself from a BMW and Mercedes competitor to a Bentley rival, with a starting price around $130,000 for its first new EV.
What Jaguar Threw Away
Ian Callum worked for Jaguar from 1999 to 2019 and was credited with evolving the brand from a company that made BMW and Mercedes alternatives that looked old-school into fresh but distinctive competitors that looked modern without losing their sense of tradition. His pen gave the world the F-Type, the modern XJ, and the C-X75 concept that starred in a James Bond film.
Speaking on the Road to Success podcast, Callum said that he and his successor, Julian Thomson, “created quite a lot of new Jaguars before I left” that were “all taken away.” Those included replacements for the XF sedan, the XJ, and the brand’s bestseller, the F-Pace SUV. The fourth model that was canned was a new F-Type sports car.
These weren’t sketches on a napkin. Callum revealed during the podcast that these four models “were all in the cards, they were all being done,” and the next-generation XJ was “nearly finished” before “that was all stopped just to start again.” Proof that Jaguar was fairly far along with these can still be found on X, where a split headlight design that looked very cat-like was being prepared for the XJ.
A Brand With Nothing on the Lot
Jaguar’s EV-only pledge still hasn’t materialized into cars you can actually buy. The company currently doesn’t sell any vehicles, having sunsetted production of all previous-generation gas and electric models. That’s a wild position for any automaker, let alone one with nearly a century of history.
Jaguar officially rolled the final F-Pace off its production line in Solihull, England, marking Jaguar’s last internal-combustion model to be built. The final example built was an F-Pace SVR, powered by Jaguar’s in-house 5.0-liter supercharged V8 producing 542 horsepower.
And while Jaguar waits for its electric future to arrive, competitors like Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and even Aston Martin are walking back their strict EV timelines to reintroduce hybrids. Jaguar has shut down rumors of a range-extender powertrain, and despite dealers questioning the strategy, there’s no adjustment on the horizon.
The Type 00 and Jaguar’s $130,000 Bet
Jaguar is staking its entire future on a radically styled electric grand tourer as it moves upmarket, no longer chasing BMW, Mercedes, and Audi but instead targeting Bentley. The production-ready Type 00 is projected to cost over $100,000, with an SUV to follow by the end of 2027.
The Type 00 concept debuted in late 2024, and it won’t be revealed in its final form until this summer. Order books should open by fall, with deliveries expected to begin in early 2027. Power comes from three motors, a 350 hp unit up front and two at the rear producing a combined 950 hp, with Jaguar promising at least 1,000 hp total along with just over 1,000 lb ft of torque.
Even Callum, who has every reason to root for his former employer, had mixed feelings about the direction. He called the design “just too retro.” He said the car has bold qualities but added that it lacks beauty, and Jaguars, in his view, need to be beautiful.
Jaguar executives have already admitted they expect to lose roughly 85 percent of their existing customer base with this upmarket pivot. The anxiety is already spilling over into the retail network; in an anonymous interview with the German publication Automobilwoche, one dealer bluntly stated that there is currently “no business case for the brand.”
Turbulence Behind the Scenes
There’s also uncertainty in Jaguar’s design department. Chief Creative Officer Gerry McGovern was supposedly fired from the role last year, and when asked about this rumor, Jaguar responded that his employment had not been terminated, yet did not confirm that he still held the same position. That kind of non-answer doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
Autocar reported that McGovern had been pushing hard for Jaguar’s rebrand, including a pivot to the all-electric, expensive, limited-production lineup. If the person driving the creative vision is gone, it raises real questions about who’s calling the shots now.
Can Jaguar Pull This Off?
There’s no sugar-coating it. Jaguar scrapped four cars that buyers actually wanted and replaced them with a plan that won’t put a single new vehicle on the road until 2027. The Type 00 hasn’t been well received by most, and EVs aren’t selling as fast as expected, so you can’t help but wonder if those four stillborn cars should be on sale right now.
The Type 00 could still surprise people. Plenty of cars look better in person, and 1,000 horsepower with a 430-mile range would be a serious machine. But Jaguar is asking the market to pay Bentley money for a brand that, right now, doesn’t have a single car to sell. That’s one of the biggest all-or-nothing moves the auto industry has ever seen.
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