Much has already been said about the relaunch of the Jaguar brand, most of it in the form of the vacuously cruel homophobic pablum that occupies much of the internet’s twiddling. A sliver of it has contained intelligent analysis. But little of it has looked at how the venerable, reimagined brand plans to address the world’s largest car market and the most cutthroat place on Earth to sell electric vehicles: China.
After all, China’s newcomer brands are rapidly displacing American, European and other Asian ones there as their EV technology quickly surpasses that of the rest of the world. At the same time, those Chinese automakers are the source of endless headaches for Volkswagen, Stellantis and others on their home turf. So as flashy and controversial as the leaping cat’s rebrand has been, it’s an open question how Jaguar 2.0 hopes to compete in China—and with China.
To remedy that, I sat down with Jag’s managing director, Rawdon Glover, in Miami, surrounded by the giant pastel pink walls and horizontal overhead streamers under which the brand’s Type 00 concept had been revealed, the mere hue of which cued shiftless gendered panic in so many keyboarding warriors.
Turns out, Jaguar has ideas about China. “As part of our strategy, we will be present in fewer markets, but we will want to really concentrate our efforts in those markets that are going to be super important for us,” Glover said. “And China, you can't ignore the largest automotive market in the world, the largest luxury market in the world. And so that's going to be going to be key for us as well.”
However, Glover admits that the British sport/luxury marque, unlike its Land Rover siblings, does not have a strong identity in that market—nor has it seen anything resembling strong sales there in about a decade.
“If I look at Range Rover, for example, it really resonates in China, and it’s very, very strong,” he said. “We've got some work to do with the Jaguar brand, which is really part of why we’re starting so early, because we probably won't be in China until 2027.”
For more than a decade, the Chinese market has held intense sway in global automotive design, influencing everything from grille size to chrome adornment to interior materiality and ambiance. According to Glover, the response in China seems to favor the marque’s new design and identity, which may have some significant correlation with the rebrand’s very intentional audacity.
“The initial reaction I'm hearing from China has been really positive in terms of the direction,” he said. “It's very bold, is very evocative. And that plays well in that market, particularly among a lot of the young Chinese wealth. So, in terms of the repositioning, if we can connect into that in the right way, then I think we'll be on to something.”
Glover went on to describe some of the psychographic features that define this sought-after demographic category of young Chinese wealth. “We think people will be attracted to this who are independent-minded. They're interested in design. Clearly, there is a level of economics involved, but there are also people that want to make a bolder choice,” he said. “Somebody who wants to make a very conservative luxury choice, that's fine. We’re not going to be the brand for them. Jaguar is going to be a brand for people who make a really clear choice that they want to stand out from the crowd.”
In the two or three years between now and Jaguar’s first product deliveries in China, it has plenty of work to do, not just in terms of branding, but in terms of connecting with potential consumers. This provides further opportunity for reinvention, though nothing seems to be firmly set just yet. “We need to examine every single aspect of our customer journey if we're going to elevate the brand to the price point we’re projecting,” Glover said. “So, yeah, that's definitely on my to-do list.”
That price, in the U.S., will, according to Glover, begin at “about $120,000” for the four-door GT that Jag will release first in 2026, though cost will scale up significantly from there, given the pricey opportunities for personalization and individualization, opportunities that will be very important to the brand’s bottom line, as such optioning can add 50% or more to the sticker, and yield profits of as much as 80% for the automakers.
Glover expects that this elevated luxury positioning—along with outré design, and the intrinsic history and resonance of Jaguar—will also help insulate it from the onslaught of more affordable, Chinese-made electric vehicles that are flooding European, and other, markets.
“If we try and make this a technical or price competition [against China], I’m not sure that's a game we can necessarily play to win,” he said. “I also think that while there's lots of very, very competent vehicles coming out of China, I don't think they have the sophistication in design that that we have. Maybe that will evolve, but those are the two differentiators.”
Still, it is evident that, while the Chinese automakers have focused for now on the more mainstream EV market, it is inevitable that they will continue to elevate their offerings. So I asked Glover if he sees those manufacturers eventually turning their sights upmarket.
“I think I see them moving into the premium segment, or endeavoring to,” he said, citing the Nio ET9 sedan, which will be priced around £90,000 ($114,000). “How successful will that be? That's quite an elevated price point. We'll see how that does,” he says.
He very intentionally positioned the new Jaguar brand in a category above premium. “I think luxury is another level,” he said. He offered a parallel in luxury consumer goods. “I’ve spent quite a bit of time in China. China is the single largest market for luxury brands outside of auto as well. And if you go to the luxury malls, it's the established global brands—Gucci, Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton—that dominate. Because they've got history, they've got provenance. And that's what you're buying into. You don't see a whole rash of ultra-high-end Chinese brands appearing,” he said. “Now, maybe in time that's going to change. I suspect we're going to see something similar in the automotive space, certainly in the medium term. And by that, I mean 10-15 years. That's my take.”
Recent history has proven that the Chinese market can shift and adapt rapidly. And Jaguar is on a cautious, years-long path in reintroducing itself there. Who knows where that market, or any of us, will be in 2027 and beyond. As a fan of the brand and its spirit, I hope Jaguar will make it. And that clearly means making it in China.
Brett Berk is a freelance automotive writer based in New York. He has driven and reviewed thousands of cars for Car and Driver and Road & Track, where he is a contributing editor. He has also written for Architectural Digest, Billboard, ELLE Decor, Esquire, GQ, Travel + Leisure and Vanity Fair.
