Jaguar XJ leaked: EV flagship finally surfaces after 11th-hour cancellation

Jaguar is in flux at the moment, but had plans not changed a few years ago it would be selling this electric flagship.

Former JLR CEO Thierry Bolloré infamously cancelled the electric XJ early in 2021, just months ahead of its debut and despite a simultaneous announcement that Jaguar would become an EV-only brand.

The company had released only a single teaser image of the vehicle’s tail-lights.

Now, an image has been published on X by Richard Seddon revealing an almost entirely undisguised prototype.

Those who worked on the design of the X391-series XJ may bristle at it leaking via a single, unflattering image – the car is finished in white, has been shot under harsh lighting, and still wears camo on its front bumper.

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While there’s only one image, we can see it has a design that fits in with other members of the outgoing Jaguar lineup – all of which are in the process of being phased out, or have already exited production.

Its grille is most reminiscent of the I-Pace SUV, which ended up being Jaguar’s solo electric vehicle (EV) following the cancellation of the battery-powered XJ.

The headlights, however, are split for a quad-light look, while the door handles are flush and the rear is more curvaceous than that of the XE and XF sedans.

We also know from a previous official teaser that the XJ would have had slim tail-lights, albeit with a full-width light bar.

The overall look, therefore, isn’t dramatically different from the smaller Jaguar sedans; in contrast, the previous-generation XJ wore similar front-end styling to the contemporary XF, but had a significantly different roof line and tail design.

Former JLR design head Ian Callum weighed in on the comments of the X post, saying, “That looks familiar. Long time ago… Shame. We would have done the facelift by now.”

It’s unclear if JLR will eventually release official images of the vehicle, much as Volkswagen did with its cancelled second-generation Phaeton.

The electric XJ was set to use the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA), which was also due to be used by a new flagship SUV for the brand. This platform underpins the latest-generation Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.

Thierry Bolloré said in February 2021 at the reveal of JLR’s Reimagine business plan that “the planned Jaguar XJ replacement will not form part of the lineup” as it was “not fitting” with his new vision for the reborn Jaguar.

“It was one of the toughest decisions I have ever made, especially since it was in my first month, but XJ was a completely different kind of car from the ones we were proposing – different in technology, battery chemistry, electronics, size, performance and market position. It would never have suited our plans,” he subsequently told Autocar in July 2021.

In November 2022, JLR announced Mr Bolloré was stepping down from the top role for “personal reasons”.

He had only been in the role since September 2020, and during his brief tenure had not only cancelled the electric XJ but announced Jaguar would become a more exclusive, electric-only brand by 2025.

While the new XJ never saw the light of day, Jaguar is working on a new range of high-end EVs.

The first of these will be revealed in concept form on December 2, 2024, with Jaguar finally teasing a prototype with dramatic proportions including a long bonnet and a steeply raked windscreen.

It’s been an agonisingly slow drip-feed of information on Jaguar’s future, with even the brand’s managing director Rawdon Glover expressing frustration earlier this year.

“It’s been hugely frustrating – saying we’re going all EV then ‘nothing’,” Mr Glover told Top Gear in September.

“Then-JLR CEO Thierry Bolloré said at the time [the plan to go EV-only was announced] that Jaguar had a choice to elevate itself out of the premium space and that choice has since been validated.

“We decided on this structure in 2021, but cars don’t appear overnight.

“We need to take [the brand] back to when we made beautiful desirable cars, not in huge numbers and not having huge numbers [of models] in the portfolio.”

JLR chief creative officer Gerry McGovern has also been candid in what Jaguar’s role would be moving forward.

In short, it’s looking more towards Bentley than it is BMW, which means killing its entire current lineup.

“What we won’t worry about is being loved by everybody, because that’s the kiss of death,” Mr McGovern told investors at a conference in remarks reported by Autocar in July 2023, warning this is a recipe for “mediocrity”.

“That’s what’s put Jaguar where it is today with, which is with no equity whatsoever.

“This brand was incredibly successful in North America 25 years ago before we took the compromises and the decisions we made.

“A lower-volume, higher-price positioning is absolutely the right position for Jaguar today.

“There has been a [25-year] void in between. So it’s reasonable to assume there’s a lot of work to build that brand equity.”

His remarks indicate Jaguar wants to go back to a time well before the XE, XF, E-Pace and F-Pace, and before even the X-Type and S-Type.

Prior to 1999, Jaguar for years sold one sedan line (the XJ) and one grand tourer line, tackling the most expensive models that BMW and Mercedes-Benz had to offer and not bothering with lower-price, higher-volume segments.

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