Jaguar's new advert and Chinese EV imports fuel UK car industry debate

A television panel discussion has examined the row over Jaguar's rebrand and the pressure on the UK car industry from Chinese electric vehicle imports. The segment began with the presenter revisiting Jaguar's 2024 rebrand, which he said had replaced a familiar British marque with a new logo and an advert featuring 'almost non-human figures' and no cars. He called it 'another Bud Light moment', predicted Jaguar would go bust, and said its car sales fell by 25 per cent. He framed the episode as a case of 'go woke, go broke', comparing Jaguar with Nike and Bud Light.

The panel noted that Jaguar's latest advert, promoting 'Type 01, one of a kind', does feature a car. The presenter said this was 'more like it' and 'a car advert with a car in it'. The discussion then widened to corporate politics, with claims that brands have blurred the line between merchandising and political debate and risk losing their core audience. Air Jordan was cited as an example of a sports figure who avoided taking political sides, while newer campaigns were described as a disaster.

The bigger policy argument concerned China. One panellist said China's EV industry cannot be compared with Western carmaking because of state subsidies, state-owned firms and investments by the People's Liberation Army. He said assumptions that free trade benefits both sides no longer apply. The panel recalled that Donald Trump imposed tariffs on China in 2017 and that the Biden administration did not remove them, suggesting there was broad acceptance that the measures were legitimate.

The panel debated what Britain should do. It was argued that Chinese EVs are much cheaper and that many younger and urban consumers want electric cars, so tariffs would raise prices for British buyers. But without tariffs, there was said to be a risk that little would be left of British car manufacturing. One contributor favoured working with other European countries on a collectively agreed tariff, while noting that EU tariffs could penalise UK consumers to help German producers.

Other claims included that China uses prison labour and poor working conditions, illustrated by rubber ducks, and that the UK is taking a security risk by allowing cars with software that could be stopped if China falls out with Britain. A pro-EV panellist with a Bentley said the problem was self-inflicted because petrol and diesel cars are being banned. He said Jaguar no longer sells proper cars because of its shift to electric models, and argued that Britain should carry on making cars with conventional engines and less software. He also said buyers are being given cars they do not want and that a petrol engine offers more room. The discussion closed by moving on to Conservative Party matters.