Why AI Suggests That The Jaguar Type 00 should be something else, it’s because all of Jaguars initial successes have been sports cars, and their mistakes have often been GTs

Jaguar’s history suggests they should have started their rebrand with a sportscar that dovetailed with prior Jaguar design language. This is what Jaguar should have launched instead of the Type-00.

I’ve covered earlier why the Jaguar Type OO is the wrong car for the Jaguar brand, but what would the right car be?  Jaguar’s success as an automaker started after they had been a motorcycle sidecar company for a time. Sidecars effectively turn motorcycles into 3-wheeled sports cars. Then, their first car was the SS-100, a sports car considered the most beautiful for its time and drew people to the brand. From then on, cars like the Type-C, XK120, E-Type, and, most recently, the F-Type, all sports cars, successfully refreshed the brand and brought in all new classes of buyers.

The last time they screwed this up was with the launch in the late 1990s of the XK-8 and XK-R. They had been prototyping the XK-180, a design that updated the look of the E-Type and applied modern technology. But, sadly, rather than pushing (as Steve Jobs might have) for this sports car, Ford Management (Ford-owned Jaguar at the time) pushed for the XK-8 design instead because unusable rear seats got you a tax break. Someone in the decision tree played Golf and successfully argued that the company should build a car that held two golf bags; the E-Type and XK-180 didn’t have much luggage space but were far more successful. 

Tata, fortunately, reversed this decision and eventually released the very popular F-Type (which is what the XK-180 was initially supposed to be), and Jaguar again had a new audience.

Why A Sports Car?

While most people don’t drive Sports cars, most men and many women would love to own one. While this tends to be a younger single person’s car, older wealthy people buy them as well and this has been a foundation of the Porsche 911 multi-decade success. While not practical, particularly for a family, they are safer than motorcycles, provide an open-air experience, and tend to be status magnets because they suggest wealth and the likelihood the owner might be wealthy enough to have multiple cars and is likely single.

As a result, people will drive to see a sports car even if the size and type of vehicle don’t fit within their lifestyle. It is an aspirational configuration, making it a great way to get people into dealerships where experienced salespeople can redirect you to vehicles closer to your needs.

A sports car can be the standard bearer for the brand, just like the E-Type has been for years. Thus, a sports car configuration targeting a younger audience would have been a far better choice than a design that, while not bad-looking, doesn’t look like a Jaguar.

EV Sportscar

There aren’t a lot of EV sportscars in the market; otherwise, I’d drive one. My E-Tron GT is a GT because no one sells an EV sportscar in the US. The closest thing to that is in Europe, and MG is designated the Cyberster under the brand. It is swoopy, has cool doors, and tends to draw crowds wherever it goes.

It is pulling a lot of interest in Europe, and if it were sold in the US, I’d likely have one on order by now. Tesla has a sports car coming, and when the company launched, it began with a rebranded EV, Lotis Elise, which got a lot of press even if it didn’t get a ton of sales. I think it's mainly because that car rattled a lot (The Elise rattles a lot, but you don’t hear the rattles due to the engine noise; the Elise is a gas-powered car). I’ve driven both cars, and the Tesla version rattles were incredibly annoying. But it was sure fun to drive.

Wrapping Up: What Jaguar Should Have Launched

Well, I believe they should have updated the XK-180 concept and brought out a true 2-seat sportscar. I went to Dall-E 4.0 and asked it to render a Jaguar Electric Sportscar for today, and the picture at the top is of that sportscar.

It looks far better than what Jaguar came up with, it also looks more like a Jaguar, and it would be far more likely I’d buy it, than I would buy the Type-00 that Jaguar is instead making.

I genuinely worry that the brand may not survive this pivot.

Rob Enderle is a technology analyst covering automotive technology and battery developments at Torque News. You can learn more about Rob on Wikipedia, and follow his articles on Forbes, on X, and Linkedin.