Five Jaguars to disappear from catalogue this year

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has decided to remove five’ zero-profit’ Jaguars from its lineup this year. The F-Pace SUV will be the only Jaguar to remain in production from the brand’s current lineup as the brand transitions to luxury EVs.

CEO Adrian Mardell told investors that JLR will boost its margin after cutting five models with “close to zero profitability” this year. All five models are Jaguars: the XE midsize sedan, the XF large sedan/wagon, the F-Type sports car, the E-Pace compact SUV, and the I-Pace electric SUV, a JLR spokesperson told Automotive News Europe.

Jaguar is planning to become a luxury all-electric brand. Its first new-generation EV is due to be unveiled next year. This year, the brand will unveil a concept for the car in the U.S., one of its key markets. Jaguar plans to launch three new all-electric models built on its Jaguar Electrified Architecture (JEA) platform.

Even more upmarket

“We are eliminating five products, all ‘lower value’. None of those are vehicles on which we made any money, so we are replacing them with new vehicles on newly designed architectures,” Mardell said during an investor day on June 19.

Mardell said that axing the five models will increase the average selling price of JLR products. According to JLR’s investor day presentation, the average selling price is currently just over 70,000 pounds (± €85,000).

Land Rover is the money-maker

JLR posted its best annual profit since 2015 in the financial year ending March 31 at £ 2.2 billion (€ 2.65 billion) before taxes on a record revenue of £ 29 billion (€ 35 billion).

The automaker has returned to financial success due to its ‘big three’ high-profit models: the Range Rover, the Range Rover Sport, and the Land Rover Defender.

In the three months to the end of June, the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Defender accounted for 59% of the brand’s 111,180 units of retail sales globally, JLR said.

Three models contribute to 85% of JLR’s “value,” Mardell said. He did not clarify whether value meant revenue or profit. “We are going to lose products, but they are not the rich ones,” he told investors.

Jaguar sold 15,324 cars in Q2 of 2024, compared with 95,856 for Land Rover, JLR figures show. The Jaguar F-Pace, the only survivor next year, was the biggest seller at 5,292 units, accounting for a third of Jaguar’s total.

Six new EVs

JLR will launch six new electric models in the next three years, of which three will be Jaguars. The first model, due next year, will be the full-electric version of the Range Rover, for which JLR says it has 39,000 ‘expressions of interest’ from potential customers.

“They will supplement and replace revenue streams which are modest and value decretive,” Mardell said. The end of the Jaguar models is crucial in JLR’s push to become a luxury player.

“Our business model is not going to be a succession of increasing variable marketing and fixed marketing expenses to try and keep our plants full,” Mardell said. “That was a mass premium model. Our model is very different, and there is a huge opportunity in front of us to excel.”

Special edition models

JLR said during the investor day that it wants to increase sales of high-value, unique edition models costing upwards of £1.5 million in a new ‘halo strategy’ push.

Special edition versions of Range Rovers already offered to customers include the Sadaf V-8 model, which costs some €400,000 and is limited to 20 examples for Middle East markets.

JLR also unveiled the new Octa version of the Defender on July 3. The SUV costs £158,000 (€190,000) and uses a BMW-sourced V-8 engine making 635 hp to accelerate from 0 to 100 kph in four seconds.

Magna Steyr

Jaguar’s axing of the I-Pace and E-Pace is another blow for Magna Steyr. Both models are made at the contract manufacturer’s plant in Graz, Austria. The news comes shortly after Magna Steyr lost production of the Fisker Ocean, which was canceled when Fisker went bust.