Jaguar Type 00: Inside The Million-Dollar Electric Reimagination

Forbes

The Jaguar Type 00 is the centerpiece of Jaguar's complete transition and re-imagination project. Head of North America, Brandon Baldassari, explains that the Type 00 is not a concept car but a "design vision" that showcases every element coming to future Jaguar production models.  The strategy is clear: Jaguar is a hundred percent committed to EV and will operate as a dedicated EV-only brand within the company’s house of brands (alongside Range Rover and Defender). This intentional shift is driven by the electric powertrain, which allows for the Type 00’s super low ride height, elongated bonnet, and very strong front-end graphic that would be impossible to achieve with a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE). Performance is set high, with the design accommodating a thousand horsepower, and the silent, smooth delivery of instant torque perfectly complements the luxury experience.  Jaguar's transition involves an intentional sunsetting of the legacy brand to create a gap before the launch of new models. The brand is actively promoting the Type 00 in traditional venues like Monterey Car Week and non-traditional places like the NBA All-Star game. Orders for the four-door GT production version, which will carry the design elements seen in the Type 00, will begin in 2026.  Read more on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottyreiss/  For more from Scotty Reiss: https://agirlsguidetocars.com/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Among the big stories here at Monterey Car Week is a brand that is in the middle of a transition.

00:06It's really interesting to get a take on what is going on with Jaguar.

00:10And to tell us about that is head of North America, Brandon Baldessari.

00:14Look at the doors opening on your concept.

00:18So tell us about the concept.

00:20The Type 00, we call the design vision.

00:22I know a lot of brands call these cars concept cars.

00:25We're calling it our design vision because we want people to know that this car is not just a concept car.

00:30The real production car will be with some watered-down, diluted version.

00:35This car really previews what we'll see in all future Jaguars.

00:39The long gated bonnet, the very low roofline, a very strong front-end graphic,

00:45the wheels that absolutely fill the wheel wells, those are 23s.

00:49All of that you'll see translate through into the production version.

00:52At Jaguar, we are 100% committed to EV, 100% committed.

00:57So as you know, we have a house of brand strategy.

00:59We've got Range Rover, we've got Defender, we've got Jaguar.

01:01Jaguar will be our dedicated EV-only brand.

01:05And that was intentional, not just from compliance or government regulations perspective,

01:10but really because the electric powertrain allows us to get this super low ride height that you see.

01:17You know, when you have an internal combustion engine, there are certain hard points that you have to work around,

01:22whereas with an EV, you have a lot more flexibility for the design.

01:25And 1,000 horsepower, and that's hard to do in pure gas.

01:30100%.

01:30From a luxury standpoint, being all-electric gives you a couple things.

01:34As you know, it gives you a really silent powertrain.

01:36It gives you the smooth delivery of power, instant torque, instant power,

01:41plus the silence, you know, sort of lends perfectly to that luxury experience.

01:45When the pandemic hit, that certainly changed the dynamic for every car company

01:56in terms of how we prioritized and our sales volume and our production volume.

02:01We had a natural contraction.

02:03And then coming out of that, we signed off on our reimagination project back in 21.

02:08And at that time, we said, we intentionally want some type of gap between old and new.

02:14You don't want to sell your last old car on a Friday and start your new brand on a Monday.

02:19And that's why we've had this intentional sunsetting of our legacy brand before we launch the reimagined brand.

02:262025 is all about type 00.

02:29We've been taking this car all around the world.

02:31We're taking it to places that are traditional car places like Monterey Car Week.

02:35And we're taking it to a lot of non-traditional places.

02:37Like we brought this car to the NBA All-Star Game, for example,

02:42because we're trying to show that Jaguar is a champion of creativity.

02:462026, that's when we reveal the four-door Grand Touring, the four-door GT, the actual production car.

02:52And that's when we'll start taking orders as well.

02:54Whenever we change things, it's always a little bit of a shock to the system.

03:01And people react like, but how could you?

03:04How could you?

03:05You know, this is the brand I love.

03:06And I love the way that it's been for so many years.

03:09We are a brand with a lot of heritage, but we don't want to be a heritage brand

03:13that just constantly stands on their old designs

03:17and doesn't feel like they can come out with something fresh.

03:20And so we really wanted to give the design team very few limitations

03:24in terms of what they could come up with.

03:26And here we are.

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