So what is going on here? I don’t think anyone is entirely certain, especially JLR.
Range Rover GT
Despite the Muddy wrap, we can all see that it is yet another lump of an EV, before they have even revealed that the Range Rover GT is actually a full on electricity car. More on that later.
If one wants a kindly interpretation of what JLR are up to, it is the company simply celebrating their heritage and aiming to build on it. The Road Rover concept has been around since 1951, flat aluminium panels shorter chassis and an estate body plonked on top. By 1956, the idea of having a posher Series model had become a shooting brake with three doors and a tailgate. It was all supposed to happen in 1960, but didn’t. It did eventually become the Range Rover, but you could find picture mock ups from 1967 with Road Rover logos on it. Significantly the original Range Rover was sold by Rover dealers alongside the P6 saloon. Many times since, the last being 2019, it has been rumoured that the Road Rover was going to become a reality. So what we may have here with the GT is a rebirth of the original concept, except that it isn’t a perfectly proportioned, stylish three door, but nothing more than a brick outhouse on wheels with an iPad interior.
Range rover GT Interior
At this point you begin to wonder why this isn’t a Jag. Maybe it was meant to be? Underneath could well be that massive and preposterous Type 00. At the moment it seems like nothing more than a Velar with a squashed roof. Here is a slightly bewildering range of heavy Range Rovers from the full fat one that costs a fortune, the middle order Range Rover Sport, Velar coupe-SUV, Range Rover Evoque premium compact CUV, and now a Range Rover GT. It would all be very impressive and quite wonderful if they were more reliable.
Jaguar Zero Zero
Never mind, surely Jaguar should be making what is, a competitor for luxury models like the not especially successful Porsche Taycan or the all-electric Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe and Ferrari Luce super dooper saloons. Despite the reliability fails, the only JLR brand still fully intact (well those that are not quite so intact on the hard shoulder) is Range Rover, so clearly they might as well go with that.
Except that the major market for it, the United States (despite the Tesla), isn’t so keen on electrification anymore, except that the GT will be electric based on the new EMA platform, manufactured in Halewood, UK. But don’t worry as JLR tell us that although the “Range Rover GT will be available as a battery electric vehicle (BEV) initially, with flexibility planned to be added to future vehicles through a full Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) option later in the lifecycle.”
Electricity is not going away, see further the Chery joint venture electric Freelander. Yes, the future continues to be Chinese. Meanwhile the Defender series will soon gain a smaller model that could also be the first Defender EV, while Range Rover has even more things in store: electric variants for both the classic Range Rover as well as the Range Rover Sport.
JLR has proved that they haven’t a clue as the Zero Zero proved. Never mind, Jaguar is dead, has been for some time, well ever since I told everyone in 2023. The Range Rover GT seems to suggest that the fully functioning arm of JLR might be headed the same way if they are not too careful.
Range Rover Daks Advert
Once upon a time, not JLR, but British Leyland and then Rover understood their market precisely. Take a look at the orignal advert. That was an image created for Simpsons in the Strand and the DAKs fashion brand originally created 1894. Old school. Old money. Old world lifestyle.
You would think that being an Indian company they‘d want to just make some money playing on all that available nostalgia. Instead they have embraced western corporate, right on culture that’s killing the industry. If they felt like it The Yuppies can be reinvented at any time and repurposed for the early 21st century. The Germans got it when they came up with the Rover 75 which might have been a bit Steam Punk interior too far, but 20 years later still looks the part. Plus they dialled in some much needed reliability. That’s how you fix a brand. Shame MG Rover died and was reincarnated Chinese. At this rate Jaguar is headed the same way.
For the moment Range Rover survives and even thrives on an ocean of unwarranted goodwill, regarded as the coolest SUV you can buy. Meanwhile old Jaguar I-Paces charged at 100% are in danger of catching alight.
This is a car park fire of epic proportions.
Jaguar is dead and the GT is pointless.
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