• Jaguar has unveiled a concept car as part of its newly rebranded identity.
• Its rebrand stirred controversy for not including any cars — and some argued it was "woke."
• Jaguar said it would reveal a new electric model in late 2025 as part of its all-electric future.

Jaguar unveiled a design concept on Monday for its next generation of electric vehicles — finally pairing an image of a car with its "exuberant modernism" rebranding campaign.

Jaguar's rebrand had drawn fierce criticism over the past few weeks from some who said it was "woke" for featuring diverse models and bright colors. The campaign also didn't feature any cars.

Now, the luxury British carmaker has filled in some of the blanks regarding its new identity by revealing a concept car at Miami Art Week.

The exterior of the concept car — dubbed "Type 00" for zero tailpipe emissions and its status as car zero in the brand's new lineage — features butterfly doors, a glassless rear tailgate, and a panoramic roof.

It's conceptualized in two colors — "Miami Pink," honoring the pastel art deco architecture of the city in which it was unveiled, and "London Blue," inspired by the Opalescent Silver Blue of the 1960s and in honor of the company's British roots, Jaguar said in a statement.

"Type 00 commands attention, like all the best Jaguars of the past," Jaguar's chief exterior designer, Constantino Segui Gilabert, said in the statement. "It is a dramatic presence, channeling a unique spirit of British creativity and originality. It celebrates art and embodies the essence of Exuberant Modernism."

The Jag's exterior design also showcases the redesigned Jaguar "leaper" mark laser-etched into brass ingots that open up to reveal rear-facing cameras when needed.

On the inside, three brass lines run the length of the interior — one on each door and one straight down the middle of the cabin.

Floating instrument panels mark either side of the middle brass line, which is supported by a pedestal of travertine stone, as are the floating seats.

A woven wool-blend fabric surrounds the two seats, sound bar, and cabin floor.

"Just as on the outside, deployable technologies are a hallmark of the interior," Jaguar's chief interior designer, Tom Holden, said in the statement. "Screens glide silently and theatrically from the dashboard, while powered stowage areas slide open softly on demand, revealing hidden splashes of exuberant color."

It's not clear which specific design elements of the new concept will end up being implemented in Jaguar's forthcoming electric vehicle models. Jaguar said Type 00 was meant as "an indicator of design philosophy and intent for the coming new vehicles."

The brand announced in 2021 that it would be moving to all-electric vehicles. The first model of its new lineup — an electric four-door — will be unveiled in late 2025, the company said Monday.

It said the model would use dedicated Jaguar Electric Architecture, have a projected driving range of up to 430 miles on a single charge, and be able to add up to 200 miles of range after 15 minutes of rapid charging.

With the new vehicles expected to become available in 2026, the company is already phasing out production of its internal-combustion-engine cars, converting its Halewood, England, factory to all-electric production and ceasing sales of new cars in the UK.

In preparation for its EV lineup launch, Jaguar debuted its rebranding campaign in November. It included an updated typeface for its "Jaguar" logo, a redesign of the leaping jaguar mark, and a colorful new video advertisement that showed models clad in high fashion and had no cars in sight.

The promo video caught a lot of flak on social media, on late-night TV, and in the media for not featuring any cars, while some conservative personalities accused the company of abandoning its history and pushing into "woke" politics. Elon Musk even weighed in.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Jaguar's managing director, Rawdon Glover, defended the rebrand, saying that the campaign's intended message was lost "in a blaze of intolerance" and that the controversial promo video wasn't meant to be a "woke" statement.

The revamp of the iconic brand — and chosen vehicle of Britain's royal family and prime ministers — also included an introduction to its new design philosophy of "exuberant modernism," which the company defined as "imaginative, bold, and artistic at every touchpoint."

Some marketing and rebranding experts have heavily criticized Jaguar's new identity.

One told Business Insider the rebrand was "bonkers," and another said he wasn't convinced the company was making the right statement.

Still, others were more positive, with one advertising expert saying the rebranding rollout had been relatively successful and another saying it was a "significant disruption" that could eventually work for the company.

It's not just the shift in Jaguar's brand identity that has gotten marketers talking — it's also the apparent pivot in the audience base the company is now trying to target.

As part of the brand's positioning, the newly announced Jags are expected to be significantly more upmarket than the ones being phased out. Car and Driver previously reported that the brand, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, was looking toward Range Rover, its corporate cousin, as inspiration for where it wants to be. The magazine cited a Range Rover that costs about $400,000; most Jaguar models for 2024 had list prices of about $50,000 to $80,000.

"We have forged a fearlessly creative new character for Jaguar that is true to the DNA of the brand but future-facing, relevant, and one that really stands out," Glover said of Monday's concept debut.

• Branding experts have mixed reviews on Jaguar's new identity but agree it's a radical change.
• Jaguar's rebranding campaign sparked debate over its new image — and carless promo video.
• Jaguar wants to target a younger, wealthier audience as it transitions to an all-electric future.

Jaguar's controversial new rebranding campaign has stirred a ton of discussion across social media, late-night TV, and in the news.

Some conservative social media users have railed against the company as going "woke." Others have questioned why Jag's new promotional video didn't contain any cars.

But what do marketing and rebranding experts think of Jaguar's transition? Their reviews are mixed, ranging from one who called it a it a "bonkers" strategy to another who said it was a relatively "successful" rollout.

One thing they agree on: It's a radical change for a legacy brand like Jaguar.

The high-end British carmaker — Jaguar has been an icon of elegance and luxury for nearly a century — first unveiled its rebranding campaign in late November. It included a new typeface for its logo, a redesigned leaping jaguar mark, and a colorful promotional video that featured high-fashion models — and no cars.

The rebrand comes as Jaguar prepares to entirely abandon its internal combustion engines in favor of a new all-electric future.

Will Sears, the founder and CEO of Cincinnati-based marketing agency W.Bradford, said the intent behind Jaguar's new branding rollout is unclear. And he said he was confused by the decision not to include any cars in the video.

Sears, who has worked on campaigns for Eli Lilly, L'Oréal, and Vegas.com, told Business Insider that Jaguar changed too many things at once in its rebrand launch. Updating the logo is a "huge change" on its own, he said, but then combined with the conceptual ad that didn't have any cars — it could all be too much for the consumer to take in.

"So now consumers who follow this are completely unfamiliar with what they're looking at," Sears said. "What has made them a solid brand is the beautiful design and performance of their cars: That is not on display at all — in any even cryptic way. So it's very confusing to the market."

Sears added: "I think we are all hoping, or people who follow this are all hoping, that their next steps in this campaign are remedying what is kind of a bonkers rollout."

Getting attention is success on its own

Another marketing expert said the eyeballs the rebranding has attracted could be considered a win for Jag.

Jim Heininger, the founder and principal of Chicago rebranding firm The Rebranding Experts, told Business Insider that Jaguar has clearly received a lot of attention over its rebrand — and that's a kind of success in itself. (The YouTube video of the Jag rollout has more than 160 million views so far.)

"I think what they're doing is just kind of stirring up some emotions and stirring up some creative kind of look and feel of what the new brand is going to look like," said Heininger, whose 30-year career includes work for P&G, McDonald's, and Anheuser-Busch. "It wasn't necessary that they show cars. They're just trying to get our attention at this point in time, and they're doing that successfully."

It's not just the shift in Jaguar's brand identity that has gotten marketers talking — it's also the apparent pivot in what audience base Jaguar is now trying to target.

As part of the brand's positioning, the newly announced Jags are expected to be significantly more upmarket than the ones that are being phased out. Car and Driver previously reported that the brand, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, was looking toward its corporate cousin Range Rover as inspiration for where it wants to be. The magazine cited a Range Rover that costs around $400,000; most Jaguar models for 2024 had list prices of around $50,000 to $80,000.)

Chris Bowers, the founder and CEO of branding agency CMB Automotive Marketing, which has offices outside Detroit and in the UK, said he's "not 100% convinced" Jaguar's rebranding is making the right statement but said the company is clearly trying to define a new audience.

"The only thing I can guess is that they're intentionally alienating their existing customer base," Bowers said, who has decades of experience building brands for major suppliers, manufacturers, and technology companies from the auto industry.

"They want to make a break from their existing customers to attract a younger, wealthier demographic who are more interested in style and individuality," Bowers said. "They're taking a massive gamble on the existence of a market who will be interested in them — and Jaguar know they can't attract them with the old brand."

Reorienting a brand to an entirely new audience is a "massively difficult" endeavor, Heininger said.

Jaguar is signaling a significant disruption

It can also be very risky, one advertising expert said.

"It's a risk to so radically divorce a brand from its inherent equities," Greg Andersen, the CEO of Omaha-based creative agency Bailey Lauerman, told Business Insider. Before joining Bailey Lauerman, Andersen worked for brands, including Google, Levi's, Burberry, and Axe — and also on several automotive campaigns, including Cadillac and Toyota.

"But at the same time," he said, "I think this work could eventually make sense if their vehicles are going to take the brand and the category in a completely different direction from the norms and dogma of the past. It's obviously a signal of significant disruption."

While the relevance and relatability of Jaguar's rebranding campaign have been much debated, each expert concluded that it represents a massive change for the brand — and change can be hard to accept.

But change is exactly what Jaguar said it wants as it heads into its EV-only future.

"Our brand relaunch for Jaguar is a bold and imaginative reinvention and, as expected, it has attracted attention and debate," the company said in a statement to Business Insider. "The brand reveal is only the first step in this exciting new era, and we look forward to sharing more on Jaguar's transformation in the coming days and weeks."

Jaguar said it would announce more details about its new branding strategy in December, though it's not clear whether that will include specifics about any of its forthcoming electric vehicles.