Jaguar Land Rover's new chief plans deep cuts to product line-up

 

Six current and planned models face the axe, including electric XJ saloon.

Jaguar Land Rover’s new boss could slash the car-maker’s product range — even ditching its forthcoming electric XJ saloon, according to The Sunday Times.

Former Renault chief executive Thierry Bolloré is believed to be mulling deep cuts to its line-up, with up to six current and planned models facing the axe.
Bolloré, who replaced Sir Ralf Speth last month, is grappling with an array of issues at Britain’s biggest car-maker, from the economic slump to a confused mix of similar models. He also inherited a range of poor-selling Jaguar saloons.

Sources said Bolloré had two to three months to make a decision on whether to continue with the electric XJ or pursue a fundamental shake-up of the Jaguar brand.

He is understood to have raised concerns about persistent losses at Jaguar, which have been subsidised with profits from Land Rover.

Jaguar’s flagship XJ was launched in 1968 and an armoured version is used by the prime minister. A new, battery-powered model had been due to roll off production lines at its Castle Bromwich factory in the West Midlands early next year, but that was delayed by the pandemic until next October.

Bolloré is understood to be considering halting the XJ, despite JLR and its suppliers having spent tens of millions of pounds on tooling for the new car. It has limited sales prospects, with Jaguar hoping to sell 38,000 a year. Bolloré, 57, is considering ditching two more models — a Range Rover and a Jaguar SUV — that were due to be built on the same platform, or skeleton.