Jaguar’s new electric car represents “make or break” for the brand, an industry expert has said.
Parent company JLR has invested billions reinventing Jaguar and has faced mixed reactions over the design of the Type 01, which was unveiled this week.
Last month, it emerged Jaguar Land Rover, which has manufacturing sites in Solihull, Wolverhampton and Halewood on Merseyside, is to cut 4,000 jobs as it struggles with Chinese competition, US tariffs and the transition to electric.
David Bailey, professor of business economics at the University of Birmingham, said it was a “perfect storm” for the firm, which has struggled since a cyber attack last year.
“I think it’s make or break for Jaguar as a brand,” he said of the Type 01 launch.
“Clearly it was failing to compete in the premium market, they’ve had to completely reinvent it, take it luxury and electric and that is a big gamble.”
Bailey said the market for luxury electric cars was in its infancy, but that “Jaguar is right at the forefront of that”.
He added: “It’s going to have to create a whole new market where one didn’t exist before, so it’s a big, big gamble for the company.”
