It shows off an entirely new design approach for the 90-year-old British car brand and sets the tone for its all-new electric car range that will hit showrooms from 2026.

The company says the concept coupé’s size, proportions and, above all, its design style are all “very close” to the brand’s first next-generation production car: a square-edged super-GT four-door, that was pictured testing in November.

Range

This will be the first of three models to be launched within about a year between them on a new purpose-designed architecture called JEA. The platform will, Jaguar estimates, offer as much as 430 miles of range and the ability to add 200 miles with 15 minutes of charge. This suggests a battery of around 100kWh in size.

This concept is the product of an exhaustive process that led designers to produce 13 full-size models on the way. The concept car suggests the first production model will be a low, lithe car in the old Jaguar mould, with a raked roof, a long wheelbase and a uniquely long bonnet.

Interior

Inside, it is a beautiful, cream-coloured compartment for two that shuns leather in favour of modern, sustainable textiles. It features a pair of elegantly designed bucket seats, constructed in a way that avoids visible stitching. There’s also a genuine stone veneer on the centre console and a brass spine runs along the length of the cabin.        

The concept’s controls and instruments are comprehensive, but greatly minimised. The door releases are in the roof console next to a long panoramic roof. Some of it is beautiful, some features are gimmicky and, unlike with the exterior, it’s far from clear how influential the Type 00’s cabin will be on the 2026 production car.

The lowness of the Type 00 and the similarly low-riding production models to come promise a relatively small frontal area (despite a very upright, bluff front) as a way of delivering decent aerodynamic performance.

Direction

While promoting something “very different”, design chief Gerry McGovern sympathises with past designers at Jaguar, pointing out that the company’s product objectives 10 years ago simply wouldn’t have allowed this bold approach. “Back then, the company thought very differently,” he said, “and was aiming at very different competitors”.

The target was to grab sales from BMW and Audi. The new range will be pitched upmarket from that space. It’s certainly risky, and it will certainly be exciting to see what happens.

Scroll on through the gallery to see more pictures of the new Jaguar

At the end of the gallery is what Autocar believes the first new Jaguar production car will resemble