More than a year has passed since Jaguar revealed its divisive Type 00 concept — a preview of the brand's rebirth as an EV-only automaker. The production version is still expected sometime this year, but details remain sparse. What we now know more concretely is how much Jaguar scrapped to reach this point, thanks to former design director Ian Callum, who laid out the cancelled models in a recent appearance on the Road to Success podcast.
Callum led design at Jaguar from 1999 to 2019 before departing to establish his own design studio. During his tenure he shaped some of the most admired modern Jaguars — among them the F-Type sports car, the XJ luxury sedan, and the C-X75 supercar concept that appeared in the James Bond film Spectre. When he left, a slate of new models designed under his direction was in development. None of them made it to production. Jaguar has not launched a new vehicle since 2018.
On the podcast, Callum — joined by his successor Julian Thomson, who departed Jaguar in June 2021 — said that the two designers had "created quite a lot of new Jaguars before I left" that were ultimately "all taken away."
The sacrificed vehicles included successors to the XF sedan and the F-Pace SUV — the latter being Jaguar's best-selling model at the time. A replacement for the F-Type coupe was also under development, and Callum confirmed these models "were all in the cards, they were all being done."
A next-generation XJ was perhaps furthest along. The XJ has been Jaguar's flagship sedan since 1968, and its successor reportedly came close to production readiness. Images of the XJ replacement leaked in 2024, showing a large sedan with a more traditionally proportioned design than the polarizing Type 00 concept. The prototype was even caught on camera during camouflaged road tests, suggesting it was production-ready.
"That was all stopped. Just like that," Callum said, snapping his fingers. He hinted he knows the real reason behind the decisions but declined to explain, saying only that "there's no founded real excuse for doing that."
On the subject of the Type 00, Callum offered a measured take. "It's a handsome car, it's bold, it's brave, and it's got a lot of good design attributes about it," he said. "But it's not beautiful, and Jaguars need to be beautiful." He also described it as "just too retro."
Whether the production car can redeem what was lost, only time will tell. Callum, for his part, hasn't given up on Jaguar entirely. "It's always possible to save the brand," he said. "But sometimes it takes somebody from outside to take a long, hard look at it."