Do you care about what are you drive, are you attached to a particular brand or is it just a case of getting from A to B with maybe a focus on features and accessories that are available?

I went into the Jaguar dealership in Cork, Johnson & Perrott to get replacement wipers for my Jaguar F Pace.

The Jaguar brand for some reason means a lot to me – when we slogged day and night through that brutal recession back in 2010/11/12/12 we rewarded ourselves with a new car at that time, a Jaguar XF.

At least each day when you drove to work early and returned late, or you had a long return trek to the Dublin office you sat into something that made all of this slog feel worthwhile. It didn’t come cheap and the extra effort to afford it made that sacrifice feel worth it.

With most cars that I have driven I’ve got used to them really quickly, and after a week or so started to appreciate them less and less, but this was never the way with how I felt about the Jaguar. It always felt special.

Our Jaguar reflected our spirit, our determination, our resilience and this car that had a certain image edge on the competitors started to feel like the perfect brand for me to be driving.

In a way the brand became an extension of who we were, so much so that I couldn’t even consider swapping for a rival.

While I waited for the replacement wipers at the service desk I noticed that there wasn’t a new Jaguar to be found in the showroom.

I asked the guy who I was dealing with what the story was and he explained that Jaguar had removed the signs two weeks ago because the whole Jaguar distribution model was changing to something like at Tesla.

The cars in future would be ordered online, the dealership in future was just a place where you would collect your car.

Even worse, Jaguar were going all electric and they are moving effectively to super cars with prices starting over €200k.

Apparently, there will be plenty of custom for this category of super car in the Middle East and other places where there will be buyers with more money than sense (And who will put up with full electric?)!

Intrigued I went online to understand what was going on and to my horror this news was confirmed.

Out of total curiosity I wrote to Jaguar in Ireland to see what response I would receive.

Hi Jaguar,

Can I ask what is happening with my local dealership?

As a Jaguar customer of many years I was extremely disappointed to see the signs taken down from Johnson and Perrott in Cork.

What is happening in the future – where is the showroom, where is the salesman who took me through each of the sales over the last 15 years?

And all of this with no correspondence even though you should have all of my details.

Is it time to shop elsewhere?

Many thanks,

Greg

Mr Jaguar did respond (Jonathan Norman god bless him):

Dear Mr Canty,

Thank you for your email.

Please let me reassure you that Johnson & Perrott in Cork are still very much part of the Jaguar family here in Ireland.

The Jaguar brand is transitioning and becoming a fully electric brand with exciting new models arriving from late 2026, and an entire new look and feel for the brand. Until this transition takes place there will be no new Jaguar models available for sale.

If you follow this link you can sign up for more information on the exciting developments. https://www.jaguar.ie/copy-nothing/overview#stayInspired

In the meantime, while we await the transition to the new all electric brand, Johnson & Perrott and the entire Jaguar network is still in place to take care of your servicing requirements in the marketplace.

Best Regards,

Jonathan Norman

And of course I did respond:

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you for your email.

It certainly doesn’t feel that way from what I am hearing about the changes.

Full electric is a strange direction for a brand with such driving credentials – I had to give up my IPace after 6 months due to the sheer impracticality of it.

This in my view feels like a decision to walk away from existing customers, for a new breed of super users and it feels like a very sad day.

Cheers,

Greg

Needless to say Jonathan didn’t reply, but no doubt shared my correspondence with some colleagues and probably laughed about this crackpot customer of theirs!

Judging from the reaction to the launch of this “change of direction” it sounds like Jaguar have forgotten the very essence of their famous brand.

The people they have put in charge have misunderstood what the Jaguar brand is, and in a sweep they have discarded all of the rich history, heritage and pedigree of this special car brand.

What did the research tell them, did they do any research – have they totally and utterly lost their minds?

The brand owners are no longer interested in this driver and all of the drivers that came before me and I feel betrayed.

Jaguar was an important part of my identity (I know that sounds extreme) and now it has gone.

What do I drive now (first world problem!) ?

In an instant Jaguar have discarded all of their brand equity and the considerable value that comes with this.

Crazy, crazy, crazy…

Greg

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.