Everything you need to know about Jaguar

Jaguar – a classic automotive name, renowned as one of the most British of car manufacturers, a symbol of upmarket quality forged in a time when British cars ruled the world. But it’s a brand that has been through a tumultuous time lately, with an uncertain future.

William Lyons started his car company in the 1930s but it was in the 1950s that Jaguar really made its name – its sports cars were well-built and their performance proven in the most toughest of motor races, the Le Mans 24 Hours. This success made them highly desirable, which rubbed off on the brand’s range of upmarket-pitched saloons.

The Lyons mantra, of making value-for-money cars that had ‘grace, space and pace’, impressed buyers. Through the 1960s, driving a Jaguar saloon or sports car was a sure sign of success. But this image would be severely tested in subsequent years as Jaguar fell victim to the various mergers that led to the ill-starred British Leyland.

Later owners of Jaguar included Ford, which won few fans by fitting Jaguar cars with parts from its Mondeo production line, and then Indian giant Tata, which initially seemed to be reviving Jaguar but then reverted into a predictable tale of poor sales and monetary losses.

Various rebrands have not helped to encourage confidence in the Jaguar of today, and with the model range currently being gutted for a switch to electric vehicles, predictions of the big cat’s future success remain less than confident.

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Everything you need to know about Jaguar

So who or what is Jaguar?

Jaguar started life as the Swallow Sidecar Company, set up in 1922 by motorcycle enthusiasts William Lyons and William Walmsley. This evolved into SS Cars in the mid-1930s, which produced upmarket vehicles based on Standard-Triumph chassis – the origin of the SS name has never been proven but some sources claim it stood for Standard Swallow.

‘Jaguar’ was initially a specific range of models in the SS Cars family, rather than the brand name. However, the SS name (along with a Germanic-looking logo), was less than palatable in the aftermath of the second world war thanks to Nazi connotations. As such, the whole company was renamed after the popular Jaguar models.

In 1950, Jaguar leased the factory that became its home, Browns Lane in Coventry, from fellow UK car maker Daimler. Ten years later, the company bought out Daimler altogether, its name being applied to the most luxurious Jaguar cars.

Jaguar’s reputation rocketed throughout the 1950s thanks to its desirable sports cars such as the C-type, D-type and the iconic E-type. The cars looked desirable while their performance was proven on the race track – Jaguar won the Le Mans 24 Hours five times in the 1950s, beating the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz, and would return to win the race again in 1988 and 1990.

The 1960s saw Jaguar producing, alongside the highly desired E-type, a series of saloons such as the Mk1 and Mk2, cars which proved popular among others with police forces and which have found enduring fame on various British TV shows.

The company was worried about its future, however, as it had never made its own bodies – these were produced by the specialist Pressed Steel, which was taken over by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1965. Lyons agreed to merge Jaguar into BMC, which also owned Austin and Morris. Eventually all would become part of the calamitous British Leyland, which had to be taken over by the government in 1975 to prevent it from collapsing.

Jaguar’s reputation suffered in this period but was seperated out and privatised in 1984, when the company again returned to quality and profit. This attracted US automotive monolith Ford, which snapped up Jaguar in 1989. Ford subsequently created the Premier Automotive Group, which also included Aston Martin, Volvo and Land Rover.

Under Ford’s ownership, Jaguar launched two volume-pitched saloons called the S-Type and X-Type, with criticisms of the latter including too many components taken from the parts bin of the Ford Mondeo. Jaguar never made a profit in Ford’s ownership and also became increasingly entwined with Land Rover, the two attracting similar customers. In 2008, Ford was decided to sell off both Jaguar and Land Rover – the sale attracted wide interest and Indian giant Tata won the bidding war.

Tata established a new company called Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to administer the two brands, and the future looked bright for a while – new models such as the XE/XF/XJ saloons, the first Jaguar SUV in the F-Pace and a long-awaited successor to the E-Type dubbed the F-Type, were sold from ever more impressive dealerships.

However, times have got steadily tougher, with years of losses and stagnating sales. Most recently, the inevitable switch to electrification has added an extra complication. Jaguar launched its first (and so far only) EV, the I-Pace, in 2019. However, that model will be imminently discontinued.

The first of three new electric models is expected next year so the current model range is being culled. Production of the F-Type, XE and XF has already ceased, while the E-Pace small SUV and I-Type EV (both of which are built by another company in Austria) will end in coming months. The F-Type SUV will be Jaguar’s only model until the first of the all-new EVs is launched.

Also plummeting in number are Jaguar dealerships, while each of those outlets left are being revamped into something called a ‘House of Brands’. Jaguar has merely a space in the showroom alongside the other three ‘families’ – Range Rover, Discovery and Defender. It’s a very long way from the glory years of the 1950s…

What models does Jaguar have and what else is coming?

Jaguar is a brand in transformation and how long any of its six current models are still going to be available in showrooms is open to question. Five of the six have officially been cancelled, so you’ll have to move quickly if you want to find any remaining new stock.

The only continuing model in the Jaguar range is the mid-sized F-Pace SUV, a mid-sized model that went on sale in 2016 and was facelifted in 2020. It sits on the same platform as the Range Rover Velar from sister brand Land Rover.

The E-Pace small SUV shares its platform with the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque. As of August 2024, it’s still in production in Austria but this will end in coming months.

Jaguar’s one electric model is the I-Pace. It is a standalone model, sharing nothing with any other Jaguar or Land Rover model. Like the E-Pace, it’s built by a third-party factory in Austria, and it will also be killed off very shortly.

The two Jaguar saloons – the smaller XE and larger XF – have now ended production and will not be replaced. The XE went on sale in 2015 as a rival to the likes of the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class, but never touched its German rivals for popularity.

The XF also dates from 2015 and was offered in both saloon and estate form. Again rivalling German market leaders like the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and Mercedes E-Class, it also bows out without ever coming close to matching their sales success.

The F-Type sports car was available as a coupé and convertible, launched way back in 2012 and discontinued only a few months ago. It proved initially popular, but sales trailed off dramatically after the first few years.

Current Jaguar range on our Expert Rating Index

Jaguar E-Pace (2017 to 2024)

Jaguar F-Pace (2016 to 2024)

Jaguar F-Type (2013 to 2024)

Jaguar I-Pace (2018 to 2024)

Jaguar XE (2015 to 2024)

Jaguar XF

Future Jaguar models, and when they might appear, have attracted much media speculation. The brand has said it intends to become electric only by 2025 and the first newcomer, due before the end of 2024, will be an upmarket four-door GT model with a price tag potentially stretching into six figures.

We’ll then apparently see a large SUV taking on sister brand Range Rover, followed by a large limousine. But pundits are looking at Jaguar’s potential future with concern…

Where can I try a Jaguar car?

How close your nearest Jaguar dealer is may well depend on when you are reading this. In 2022, the brand had more than 80 outlets but as part as parent JLR’s latest ‘Reimagine’ strategy dealer numbers are being massively pruned.

The remaining outlets are being revamped into a what JLR calls its ‘House of Brands’ approach, with Jaguar merely one of the four ‘families’ alongside three names from sister Land Rover. Some predictions claim Jaguar could end up with just 20 outlets across the UK.

A Jaguar fact to impress your friends

For many years Jaguars were instantly recognisable by a prominent chrome sculpture of a leaping jaguar on their bonnets. Known as the ‘leaper’, it was first mounted on an SS Jaguar 100 car in 1938.

Eventually, increasing pedestrian safety legislation spelt the end of the leaper, and Jaguar shifted to a roundel bearing a snarling big cat’s face (called the ‘growler’). But the shape of the leaper lives on today in the company’s logo.

Summary

There is a lot of glorious history around Jaguar involving some superlative and much-desired cars, but there is also a feeling that in today’s market such things mean very little for a brand increasingly losing significance.

Even its own dealerships are now dominated by the products of sister brand Land Rover – the much-awaited electric reimagining of Jaguar will without doubt decide the brand’s future.