Jaguar knows its radical reinvention won't please everyone, but the British luxury brand insists it had little choice but to start over. After years of struggling to compete with BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, the company decided that simply refreshing its existing portfolio wouldn't cut it anymore. Instead, Jag is moving upmarket with an exclusively electric lineup aimed at a wealthier clientele.

Speaking about the risky decision, managing director Rawdon Glover told British magazine Evo that Jaguar's old business model wasn't profitable or growing. Competing in the premium-volume segment dominated by the German trifecta had become increasingly difficult.

'We had created some brilliant products, some were best in class, but the competitiveness in that sector was too much for Jaguar to cut through. When we had to make a decision as to what was next for Jaguar – what cars we would make, which sectors to compete in – we could have carried on as we were or rip up the rulebook and give Jaguar a fresh start. The former was never an option if Jaguar was to survive.'

In other words, Jaguar could build good cars and still struggle to make the numbers work. The brand had earned plenty of recognition over the decades, but that affection wasn't translating into the sales volumes needed to sustain the business. Separately, Glover told Australian magazine Drive that doing the same thing all over again no longer made sense:

'It wasn't sustainable for us to continue as we were. A lot of brand management is small, little changes … it's about tweaks here and there.

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