New Jaguar Electric Luxury Car Expected to be Called the I-Type
After a trickle of rough news cycles for the storied marque, a glimpse of Jaguar’s future has emerged. A trademark application “unearthed” by Car and Driver suggests that the main character in the new persona of Jaguar will be called the I-Type, likely the name for the company’s electric luxury sedan that has been teased by photos of a big, camouflaged cat in testing.
It has apparently been in the works for some time, judging from the filing of an Extension of Protection for an I-Type trademark in September of 2023.
The car will almost certainly be all-wheel-drive and more expensive than anything in Jaguar’s 2024 lineup, which tops out at about $130,000 for the F-Type roadster. As Jaguar moves upscale, we suspect the I-Type will be the lead dog in the hunt for customers in a market dominated by Mercedes-Benz, Bentley and even Rolls-Royce.
Jaguar’s new direction will be at least hinted at during next month’s Miami Art Week. The company is sponsoring Art Miami 2024, taking place from December 3–8, 2024.
At the fair, the brand is expected to present “Jaguar. Exuberance.”, an installation that introduces the brand’s new direction, “showcasing the first physical manifestation of its exuberant creative philosophy, a symbol of what is to come. The activation has been created specifically for the fair’s audience of collectors, art dealers, advisors, curators and museums, and is available only to ticketed attendees,” the company says. Jaguar’s new era “is inspired by the Jaguar founder’s ethos to be a copy of nothing, committed to celebrating creativity and championing original ideas while embracing a fearless future.” We suspect the “physical manifestation” is a prototype vehicle.
Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Tata Motors, has a dedicated philosophy going forward: “Electrification is central to this strategy and before the end of the decade our Range Rover, Discovery, Defender collections are planned to have a pure electric model, while the Jaguar strategy is to be entirely electric.”
The first model reflecting Jaguar’s shocking new direction is expected in 2026. (See what we did there?)
