Prior to its relaunch as an electric-only brand, luxury car manufacturer Jaguar announced its ‘new era ‘ by unveiling its new logo and branding. The Tata Motors-owned British vehicle maker on Tuesday revealed a new bespoke logo, written as JaGUar, alongside a new prancing “leaper” cat design and marketing slogans like ‘delete ordinary’, ‘live vivid’ and ‘copy nothing’.
The new logo emphasized the brand’s posh English pronunciation “Jag-you-are” instead of the American “Jag-wahr.” The company said the new branding “seamlessly blended upper and lower case characters in visual harmony.”
The 102-year-old luxury automaker announced its transition to electric vehicles in 2021. The brand is reportedly set to launch three new electric cars by 2026 after it took new cars off-sale over a year ago to focus on reinventing itself.
“This is a reimagining that recaptures the essence of Jaguar, returning it to the values that once made it so loved, but making it relevant for a contemporary audience,” said Gerry McGovern, Jaguar Land Rover’s chief creative officer, in a press release.
As per a report by Car and Driver, the pouncing cat logo called ‘the Leaper’, which has adorned Jaguar cars for decades, is being eliminated in favour of the badge.
Jaguar’s Managing Director Rawdon Glover called the rebranding as the “biggest step change” in the company’s history.
“A new era begins for Jaguar. This is an incredibly exciting time for the whole team. To re-imagine such a globally renowned brand really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Today, Jaguar unveils its new brand identity, recapturing its ethos to “Copy Nothing” that can trace its roots back to the words of our founder, Sir William Lyons,” he posted on LinkedIn.
How the new branding will look on the cars will be unveiled at a Miami Art Week event on December 2.
“Watch out for the global unveiling of the first physical manifestation of our brand reinvention in Miami on December 2, where Jaguar will champion true originality, as a creator and advocate of artistic expression, in all its forms,” Mr Glover said.
However, the social media reactions to the rebranding have not been very reassuring. Replying to the relaunch video posted by Jaguar on X, one internet user wrote: “Umm where are the cars in this ad? Is this for fashion?” To this, the brand replied, “Think of this as a declaration of intent.”
Copy nothing. #Jaguar pic.twitter.com/BfVhc3l09B
— Jaguar (@Jaguar) November 19, 2024
Another user wrote, “Jaguar took a year off for this? This is how companies fail.” Replying to this, the brand said, “This is not the end. This is the new beginning.”
Jaguar took a year off for this?
This is how companies fail.
— BitS (@BotintheShell) November 19, 2024
Tesla chief Elon Musk also joined the cacophony to express his confusion over the rebranding and wrote: “Do you sell cars?” To this, Jaguar’s official X account responded: “Yes. We’d love to show you. Join us for a cuppa in Miami on 2nd December?”