- Jaguar has taken a lot of heat for its rebranding campaign but James May says he’s excited about the automaker’s new car.
- The ex-Top Gear and Grand Tour host was speaking to BBC Radio when he offered the embattled car brand some positive vibes.
- May’s comments went out as Jag’s new concept coupe leaked ahead of the official reveal in Miami tonight.
Jaguar has spent the last couple of weeks trying to shield itself from some often unpleasant attacks on its efforts to rebrand. But it’s found support from one famous car enthusiast who claims he’s chomping at the bit to see the company’s new car, pictures of which leaked today.
“I can’t remember the last time that I was this excited to see a new car revealed,” former Top Gear and Grand Tour host James May told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday, December 2..
Related: In Wake Of Controversial Campaign, Jaguar Boss Said They Had To Shake Things Up
“And the fact is you are talking about a new car on the Today programme [a regular news and current affairs show], that’s got to be a bit of a result for Jaguar hasn’t it?” he added.
While May’s interview was being beamed across the airwaves early on Monday morning in the UK, leaked images of the concept were popping up on the internet ahead of tonight’s global debut at Miami Art Week.
Reflecting on Jaguar’s recent struggles, May didn’t hold back. “As far as I can make out, Jaguar relying on all those old ideas about heritage and tradition and so on, had shrunk to a little more than a cottage industry in car making terms,” May said. ”Social media is full of a lot of people ranting about exactly those things but the fact is they weren’t working, because hardly any Jaguars were sold”.
May admitted he wasn’t entirely convinced by Jaguar’s latest marketing push. “So they need some sort of new idea. I’m not sure what it is and part of me even thinks that that advert is a bit of a joke, and they’re going to come out with another one where a huge Jaguar comes and eats everybody,” he joked.
Despite his reservations, May said he hopes Jaguar is on the right track. “I’m not a businessperson and I don’t know very much about marketing and advertising. I just hope in my heart that they have come up with something genuinely contemporary and they haven’t in the last moment resorted to, despite their androgynous multi-hued advert, giving us something that’s faux-heritage,” he continued.
May needn’t have worried. The leaked images reveal a very modern all-electric coupe whose only major nod to the past is an exaggerated cab-backwards stance recalling the proportions of the 1961 E-Type coupe.
Then again, writing about what he called Jaguar’s “marketing b*ll*cks” campaign on X before the concept had leaked, May said “I do think the world needs to move on from the E-Type.”
Jag will launch the production version of the concept late next year, and follow it up with two more EVs before the end of the decade.
H/T to The Independent