A few weeks ago there was news that Jaguar Land Rover management were retiring the XJ nameplate and also the luxury sedan. The news of this retirement did not hit mainstream media immediately as Jaguar Land Rover has been quiet for some months now, with lower sales and suffering demand across all their markets.
Management Decision
Last month, Jaguar Land Rover’s new CEO Thierry Bollore unveiled his bold new vision of Jaguar's future and announced that the XJ was not included, however Jaguar would retain the name plate until further notice.
Battery Power
With the recent announcement of the total ban of combustion engines in United Kingdom by 2030, plus tougher European emissions laws and the general move by all European car manufacturers to move towards electric powered mobility, Jaguar in late 2020 announced a full electric all new XJ for 2022 with a possible 500 km driving range. Meanwhile, the Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV, which is manufactured under contract by Magna Steyr in Austria is still being produced. So, why is the electric powered XJ sedan being retired? Is Jaguar planning to retire all its current sedans?
Rivals
With tough competition from its German rivals, Jaguar has in recent years done very little to compete head on every luxury segment.
The Jaguar XJ name plate has had a good 52 year run and the current XJ luxury sedan has been on sale for 10 years with little improvements over the years and this is a long time for any model to be on sale without major facelift or all new models. Yes, it started out as a great product which competed directly with the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, Lexus LS and Mercedes S-Class but it never surpassed their sales numbers.
Heritage Explained
In the early years the XJ nameplate lived in the shadow of the iconic Jaguar E-Type sports car and was a good profit earner for this car manufacturer from Coventry, England.
It was the last Jaguar which the company’s founder, Sir William Lyons, had direct input into its creation and went on to become Jaguar’s best-selling vehicle ever.
After being unveiled in 1968 it went on to enjoy a production run lasting more than 52 years and more than 900,000 units were sold around the world and can still be seen today.
The Jaguar XJ it sold well over 52 years with 915,000 plus units produced, and if you include the two door XJS coupe and cabriolet (based off the XJ platform) between 1975 and 1996, another 115,320 can be added meaning sales of more than one million or around 20,000 cars per year.
The final model XJ broke tradition with the retro styling, instead following the new design language set by the Jaguar XF to deliver an altogether modern look, but it sold only 83,566 cars over its ten-year life. – The Vibes, March 8, 2021
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