Jaguar Land Rover Roll Out New Branding, Misses the Mark

by Michael Satterfield - 06/01/2023

Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled its new corporate identity today, they are going with their initials... JLR, the change is part of a move towards becoming a "House of Brands Organization." The iconic Land Rover brand is really the only causality, pushed to the background. Jaguar has been taken to the vet to be neutered, shedding its image of gangsters and muscle cars to become another soulless luxury EV brand. I suspect we will see Tesla-style launch events for products that will never materialize so they can keep the capital flowing. 

What is left of Land Rover has been reduced to three brands Range Rover, Defender, and Discovery, what that really means moving forward is unknown, will there be just a cacophony of submodels under each of the three main brands? Will the Velar and Evoque be jettisoned or just be under the Range Rover brand? Will Defender get a compact EV model? What happens to the guy who just bought an F-Type yesterday when his local dealer shut down because they aren't part of Jaguar's new vision? A lot isn't clear with this new basket of brands concept... but what is clear is that someone who went to a very expensive school decided that Land Rover and Jaguar's legacy of motoring was bad and that becoming "Proud Creators of Modern Luxury" sounded cooler than being stewards of a storied heritage. 

Commenting on the new identity, JLR lead beancounter Adrian Mardell, said: “Today is an exciting day as we unveil a new identity for our company as part of our House of Brands approach. I’m confident this perfectly illustrates JLR’s ambition in the modern luxury space.” While this plan undoubtedly emanates from the wide-eyed dreamers in the accounting department it has the backing of Professor Gerry McGovern OBE who serves as JLR's Chief Creative Officer and the man that gave us the Land Rover Freelander.

According to JLR the descending J adds elegance and the LR illustrates refinement and modernity. I, however, am getting the same vibe of the "Nine Inch Nails" Kia rebrand that still hasn't grown on me. This new minimalist direction is flying in the face of what most luxury brands are doing in 2023, which is returning to their heritage, embracing iconic design, and ditching the Geometric Sans Serifs wordmark mono-branding of the last decade. If JLR wants to shape itself as a collection of luxury brands, following the lead of brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Chanel, and Burberry would be a good place to start. Instead, they are once again at the trailing edge of the industry.

I don't think a rebrand is really going to solve Jaguar or Land Rover's problems, the issues run far too deep, Jaguar was always a boutique brand, but during the Ford years they got the idea that they could go head-to-head with Audi, Mercedes-Benz,  and BMW, the value proposition of buying a rebadged Ford instead of a BMW 3 series never really panned out. So after failing to become the British BMW, they decided to roll up their sleeves and take on Porsche, Bentley, and a host of other luxury EV start-ups which is going to be a tall order for what was once the maker of the fastest car in the world. 

Land Rover's new bundle of brands seems likely to create some confusion but overall it looks like nothing is really changing except for their addition of EV options, while the Jaguar and Land Rover brands are definitely broken, I don't think minimalist branding and buzzwords are going to fix it.