Although it's doing very well money-wise, having posted its best annual profit since 2015 in the previous financial year, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) isn't resting on its laurels. In fact, the British automaker plans to become a key player in the premium electric game and to do so, it needs to phase off several existing models.
Yep, after finding out that Audi discontinued its entire coupe and convertible family in the United States and that Nissan plans to kill the Versa and Altima in our market, it's now time for more bad news, this time for Jaguar's fans.
The company announced that the XE premium compact sedan, the XF business models (sedan and estate), the F-Type sports car, the I-Pace electric crossover, and the E-Pace compact high-rider are on the chopping block. The information came to our attention via AutoNews, which quoted a JLR spokesperson.
But why kill these models particularly? Because they're far from being best-sellers. In fact, it was the Range Rover Sport, Range Rover, and the Land Rover Defender that contributed to 85% of JLR’s "value," according to CEO Adrian Mardell. The head honcho told investors that the car manufacturer will boost its margin with "close to zero profitability" this year after dropping the five aforementioned vehicles.
Photo: Jaguar
"We are eliminating five products, all lower value," Mardell reportedly said in mid-June at an investor day meeting. "None of those are vehicles (XE, XF, F-Type, E-Pace, and I-Pace) on which we made any money, so we are replacing them with new vehicles on newly designed architectures," the CEO added.
As for their successors, or some of them, anyway, they will be battery-electric rides. Jaguar will allegedly build all of them on a new platform, supposedly christened the JEA, which stands for Jaguar Electrified Architecture. The first of the three new models to use this construction are expected next year, preceded by a study that will be shown in the US before the end of 2024.
It's not all bad news for Jaguar's fans, as one model will survive the butchering frenzy: the F-Pace. This was the brand's best-seller, so it's easy to understand why the car marque decided to keep it around for a little longer. Thus, the F-Pace crossover will be the only Jaguar still on sale at the end of the year, though we wouldn't be surprised if Jaguar pulls the plug on it sometime in 2025 or 2026.
Since the E-Pace and the I-Pace are currently put together at Magna Steyr's factory in Graz, Austria, this company will receive another serious blow when the Jaguar discontinues them. If you forgot, Magna Steyr took another major hit when Fisker went bust and inevitably dropped the Ocean, as this model was also made at the Graz facility.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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