- A leaked photograph appearing to show Jaguar’s stillborn electric XJ has appeared on X.
- The picture reveals the drab, derivative design of the car that was axed despite being fully finished.
- On December 2 Jaguar will reveal a concept of the far more avant-garde electric GT that was developed instead.
Two weeks from now, Jaguar will reveal a concept of the four-door electric luxury sedan that it hopes will transform it from a failed BMW rival to a profitable Porsche and Bentley competitor. But the new GT only exists because Jag took a brave decision to scrap the almost production-ready electric XJ and start again – and a leaked photo proves it was the right decision.
Our spy photo team snapped prototypes of the XJ EV testing before the project was axed in early 2021 by then-boss Thierry Bolloré, but a single image apparently taken inside a JLR workshop and leaked online gives us our first camo-free look at what might have been.
Related: Jaguar’s New Electric GT Looks Like A BMW i7 With Attitude
They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and in this case 987 of them are synonyms for “boring” or “derivative.” The photograph shows a white XJ sedan that looks like a composite image built using various parts from other Jags and rival cars. It’s like someone started with a Tesla Model S – the XJ’s intended target – including its rising window line and pop-out door handles, then grafted on a rear quarter window from the F-type coupe and the front end of an i-Pace.
The most interesting bit is the headlights, which wrap around the corners of the car’s nose, but overall it simply looks too much like a facelifted XF and entirely lacks the wow factor a big Jag should have. We can’t imagine it would have set the market on fire, and JLR obviously thought the same.
But early indications are that the concept due on December 2 will absolutely have that wow factor. Three images of a disguised prototype released by Jaguar last week showed a long, low, sedan with a swept-back windshield – and reportedly no rear window at all.
So the stillborn X360 Jaguar ‘XJ-E’ has leaked. I’m still after the studio launch photos… pic.twitter.com/TrtdnCuOLt
— Richard Seddon (@RikSed) November 17, 2024
When Jag scrapped the electric XJ it wasn’t simply because it had lost faith in the car, which was apparently only a year away from sale. The automaker had lost faith in its entire direction, having spent more than 20 years trying and failing to compete directly with the likes of BMW and Mercedes. Junking the XJ, and more recently, its entire product line, allowed Jaguar to start afresh.
Instead of aiming at BMW, Jag wants to move upmarket and position itself as a rival to Porsche and even Bentley. Its new generation of cars starting with next year’s sedan (pictured below) and followed by two more EVs before the decade’s end, will be more expensive, and more luxurious.
What do you think? Could the XJ in the leaked image have worked in the market or was Jaguar right to scrap it?
