It’s safe to say that Jaguar cooked up bit of a storm a few months back, unveiling a totally new brand identity that set the internet ablaze. I won’t labour the point too much, but in case you missed it…

Jaguar put out a new conceptual reveal video via all their social channels, showing a group of young models clad in some questionable, contemporary fashion. It was very pastel, featured a lot of dusty pinks, and was punctuated by unveiling Jaguar’s new logo; again, a far step from anything we’ve seen from the brand before, with a simplistic curved font in a mix of sentence and title-case lettering. No Jaguars (emblems or cars) were in sight within the new reveal video, prompting motoring anoraks from across the internet to unite in distain for this bold new direction. Was the hate justified? It seemed a little strong in the name of everything anti-woke, but that probably depends on who you ask.

There are a few things that remain clear: this is a grand new statement for the brand. Before uploading the new promo video, Jaguar had deleted all previous posts from its Instagram account. Which sounds like a minor detail, but when you’ve got a brand with such a rich and established 90-year history, it makes quite a physical embodiment of a metaphorical statement in ‘removing the brand’s history’. Certainly, none of what we’ve seen so far harks back to the gorgeous XK120, or stunning C, D or E-Types. There’s no mention of its racing pedigree established with numerous Le Mans wins. Or the mighty roar of the once fastest road-legal car in the world, the XJ220. Or any allusion to the numerous luxurious saloons the company has produced, boasting British racing green paint over walnut and cognac interiors, the longstanding preference of royalty. No, none of that.

It also makes it clear that Jaguar is very blatantly targeting a younger demographic, but seemingly at the cost of its very loyal and established customer base. And that also appears to be underpinned by their commitment to moving towards an all-EV lineup in the near future; something many much larger competitors have since steered away from. The likes of Porsche, Volvo and Toyota Group have all revised plans for an electric takeover by 2030 and now aim to make hybrids featuring internal combustion engines well into the next decade. But Jaguar is doubling down.

With all that out of the way, Jaguar then finally revealed the new concept car attached to its brave rebrand, the Type 00. It’s certainly striking. This large pink coupé features a monolithic design, with long uninterrupted lines and a minimalist exterior. Horizontal slats punctuate both the nose and tail of the car, housing neatly integrated light bars. As with all pre-road-approved concepts, there’s a minimal amounts of glass and outrageously large wheels to show off its exaggerated proportions.

The Type 00 certainly isn’t a bad looking thing. It just looks very much like a working concept. During the marketing ramp up ahead of its launch, Jaguar told us all to “copy nothing” as part of its hype. But it appears the designers at Jaguar haven’t heeded the same advice and have copied a Rolls-Royce Spectre. To be clear, the Spectre is a wonderous thing, but we’ve seen it, and that makes the Jag look a little lacklustre in compa rison.

The concept certainly makes Jaguar’s new design language clear though, there’s no doubt that this almost brutalist modernism will appeal to that younger audience the brand wants in its future. It’s brash, unapologetic, and despite some questionable marketing in the build-up, is an exciting proposition if Jaguar can pull it off. As ever, the proof will be in the pudding. So, until we’ve actually driven this thing, likely next year, we’ll reserve judgement.

The concept car has been spotted out in the wild for testing, wearing full camouflage, but featuring a four-door setup instead of two. The design team at Jaguar are suggesting the concept shown will be very close to the production version, and early signs show this to be true, aside from the additional rear-opening doors.

Prices for this all-electric four-door GT are expected to start from £120,000 plus, or around €145,000 before local taxes. So, what do you think about this new direction for Jaguar?