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Jaguar’s Barbie-Pink EV Unveiled During Miami Art Week; Hits a Speed Bump with Gen Z
Edited by: TJVNews.com
Jaguar’s attempt to revitalize its image and appeal to younger audiences with its new pink electric vehicle has sparked widespread ridicule rather than the admiration the company had hoped for. As The New York Post reported on Tuesday, the bold rebranding effort aimed at Generation Z has drawn criticism, with many deriding the concept car as “cheap” and likening it to a “pink Batmobile.”
The controversial vehicle in question is the Jaguar Type 00, also called the Design Vision Concept, a futuristic electric car unveiled during Miami Art Week. Photos of the $126,519.50 vehicle were leaked online before its official debut, stirring significant online discourse, according to the information provided in The New York Post report.
The car’s design is a radical departure from Jaguar’s classic luxury aesthetics. With a massive bonnet, slatted rectangular grilles, no rear window, and a divisive new round logo replacing the iconic leaping Jaguar, the concept car’s most striking feature is its vibrant “Miami pink” exterior. The design evokes comparisons to the boxy Corvette seen in the Barbie movie and also comes in metallic blue.
Jaguar Land Rover’s chief creative officer Gerry McGovern called the vehicle “a taste of things to come,” positioning the flamboyant EV as part of a broader effort to attract younger, more progressive audiences, as was noted in The New York Post report. This aligns with Jaguar’s recent “complete reset,” which Managing Director Rawdon Glover described as an initiative to “inspire a new generation.”
Despite Jaguar’s ambitions, the flashy redesign has largely flopped among the younger demographic it sought to woo. The New York Post report indicated that the car has been heavily mocked on social media, with detractors criticizing both the vehicle itself and the broader rebranding strategy.
🇬🇧 Jaguar’s latest move?
A “Barbie pink” electric car. 🚗💅 A bold rebrand or a misstep?
Their 102 years of elegance traded for trending colors.
This isn’t evolution; it’s pandering.#Jaguar #WhereIsTheHeritage #UKDeservesBetter pic.twitter.com/IE3579dL47
— Thomas MORE (@ThomaMore) December 4, 2024
One commentator on X (formerly Twitter) dismissed the effort, saying, “If you thought the Jaguar rebrand was peak cringe, you gotta look at their new car.” Another user, TikTokker Fionnuala, compared the Type 00 to Muck, the red digger from the children’s TV show Bob the Builder. She quipped, “Now you’re telling me Jaguar had all that faff, all that rebrand, all that nonsense for a car that looks like Muck, and to be honest I’d rather [have] Muck.”
Jaguar has unveiled a “Barbie pink” electric car in a misguided attempt at reinvention. A 102-year legacy of British elegance and innovation tarnished by a single woke rebrand. Once iconic, now unrecognisable. This isn’t creativity or boldness—it’s pandering. What happened to… pic.twitter.com/vWa9eAztM4
— Rob Moore (@robprogressive) December 4, 2024
Even car enthusiasts expressed their disappointment. Gearhead Luke Malpas lamented in a TikTok clip, “What on Earth is Jaguar thinking? They’ve gone from being a staple of British engineering, creating some of the best cars we’ve seen on the road, to this.”
Jaguar’s broader rebranding campaign, which includes advertising featuring androgynous models in bold, non-traditional outfits—and notably, no cars—has also drawn sharp criticism. The New York Post report revealed that some commentators view the effort as misguided and overly focused on “woke” messaging rather than quality engineering.
Critics on social media were quick to voice their disapproval of the brand’s new direction. Podcaster Jay Anderson tweeted, “Go woke, you know the rest,” while journalist Jordan Schachtel added, “Go DEI go absolutely broke. This is a mockery of the Jaguar brand.”
It’s @Jaguar’s new queer car.
It’s designed like a bumper car inside.
Those pedals are comical.
I like the matte finish but that’s not new or innovative.It’s PINK. Who wants to buy a pink car?
Elle Woods and Barbie ? They’re fictional.I guess the lights are new?
Is…— 𝓙𝓪𝓷𝓮 É𝓲𝓻𝓮 (@cyberfrontier) December 3, 2024
Critics also noted the irony of Jaguar’s “Copy Nothing” tagline, suggesting the Type 00 concept borrows elements from a host of storied brands. Among the most scathing was Canopy Capital Group CEO Eric Golden, who took to X (formerly Twitter) to deride the design: “Copy nothing except Rolls Royce, Bentley, and then put a Studebaker radiator on the back of the car.”
Nope, nope, and nope again‼️
And Jaguar was always my favourite car design.
I identify as female (🤣🤣🤣🤣) and there is NO WAY I’d purchase a jaguar now….let alone a PINK jaguar that looks like a Mattel toy car for Barbie!
And those seats‼️🤮
Nope, nope, and nope again‼️ https://t.co/wvTrYBfIH1
— Yankee Jan- Down Under (@JanHC_inOz) December 4, 2024
The comparisons didn’t end there. One commenter labeled the pink EV a “Batmobile,” lamenting its departure from Jaguar’s iconic “macho” vehicles of the past. The New York Post report explained that that the criticisms stem from the car’s design choices, which many argue stray too far from Jaguar’s legacy of sleek and muscular luxury.
Beyond the aesthetics, Jaguar’s rebranding strategy and its perceived attempt to attract a younger, more progressive audience have sparked concerns about alienating the company’s traditional buyers. The report in The New York Post said that Lulu Cheng Meservey, a board member at Shopify, quipped on X: “Someone on the Jaguar marketing team has greatly overestimated the size of the ‘vegan barista who wants to roll up to the drum circle in a luxury sports car’ market, I fear.”
Similarly, Laurence Fox, founder of the British Reclaim Party, criticized Jaguar for targeting what he called an overly niche demographic. He speculated that Jaguar’s echo chamber had misled the company into designing a vehicle for a market that “may not exist.”
The criticism wasn’t limited to Jaguar’s branding approach. Many have taken issue with the car’s physical design, calling it impractical and uninspired. One user on X called it a “fugly monstrosity,” questioning the oversized nose—a design choice traditionally used to house internal combustion engines—which seemed out of place on an electric vehicle.
“The switch to electric gave huge potential for a radical redesign,” the commenter argued, “but they had so little imagination that they gave it a huge view-restricting nose to house a non-existent engine.” The New York Post report noted that these critiques draw attention to the missed opportunities for innovation in an era where EVs are challenging traditional automotive design.
Despite the backlash, some enthusiasts have defended the Type 00. The New York Post report cited “Top Gear” host Rory Reid, who praised the car for breaking Jaguar’s recent streak of uninspired models. “This is the most ‘I would actually look twice at this’ Jag since … forever,” Reid declared. He even embraced the polarizing color, saying, “I’d even have it in pink for the haters.”
McGovern also stood by the design, emphasizing the importance of making a bold statement. “Getting attention in today’s world is not always easy,” McGovern remarked. The report indicated that his belief that the car’s divisive nature has at least succeeded in sparking conversation about Jaguar’s future.
Jaguar’s foray into a more radical, EV-focused design and branding strategy is a high-stakes move for the company. While the Type 00 has generated significant buzz, much of it has been negative, raising questions about whether the gamble will pay off.
The automaker is attempting to walk a fine line—appealing to a new generation of consumers while retaining its status as a symbol of British luxury and engineering. Whether Jaguar can reconcile these goals remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the Type 00 has put the brand squarely in the spotlight, for better or worse.
