Most of the conversations around Jaguar Land Rover, and in particular Jaguar, have been quite angsty over the last 12 months. People have wondered if the brand was destroyed forever, with some going so far as to speciously report that the company was going to be killed. That’s not what happened, and in fact, JLR reported its best profits in a decade. What?
The Morning Dump today is all about turnarounds. First, we’ll talk about that perceived about-face at JLR, which was always built on silly assumptions. Next, it’s Chinese automaker Xiaomi, which everyone talks of as the second coming. It’s doing the Tesla speedrun by going from the next big thing to the company everyone complains about in record time.
Subaru thinks it’ll eventually become fully electrified. Eventually. Its ambitious plans are running into the harsh reality of reverse globalization. Even China, the leaders in vehicle electrification, are thinking about maybe some other options.
Jaguar Land Rover Profits Rise 15% In Fiscal Year 2025
I was sitting in a hotel in Notting Hill last year, visiting London on a sort of last-minute lark of a trip. My daughter was still jet-lagged and asleep. My wife, who had arrived days earlier and had adjusted to the time change, was out at some museum already.
Looking down at my phone, I noticed a lot of chatter online that Tata was going to kill its Jaguar brand. This sounded wrong to me. Like the British version of an American hamburger, all the parts were there, but it somehow didn’t add up. Being ahead of the American press, I jumped into the story and was quickly able to piece together the game of telephone that resulted in this little bit of fake news.
Part of the issue was that Jaguar has long planned to seriously course-correct its own brand, resulting in it winding down production for a few months in order to start the shift to pure electrification. The brand would again court controversy later that year with a tone-deaf and silly rebranding. A lot of Internet Tough Boys got big mad at Jaguar and claimed that the brand was dead, again. Art Basel-inspired goofiness aside, Jaguar’s sense that it needed to rebrand probably wasn’t wrong.
Either way, the claims of Jaguar’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. The company’s Fiscal Year, which ends in March, was the best one for the company in ten years. Profits were up 15% year-over-year, including a Q4 that saw profits rise 32% (that would be Q1 by the calendar). The EBIT margin was 10.7% for the first three months of the year, bringing the total to 8.5% over the previous fiscal year.
How is this happening? The other big number to look at is revenue, which was basically flat between FY2024 and 2025. A great way for Jaguar Land Rover to make money, apparently, is to stop building Jaguars while selling the inventory they do have. Obviously, that trick only works once. A surge of tariff-induced panic buying pulling forward sales probably didn’t hurt, either.
What does next year look like? Reuters was on the call with parent company Tata Motors, which is looking at the potential tariff impacts and rethinking how much profit it can expect to make this year:
Tata Motors’ Chief Financial Officer PB Balaji said higher tariffs will have some implication on demand, though premium cars are expected to weather higher levies better.
“We will probably be able to see the implications of all those (tariffs) in the coming quarters,” Balaji said.
JLR will look to other regions, including the U.K. and newer markets, to mitigate tariff impact.
“We are very clear we will do everything in our hands to drive growth,” Balaji said. JLR will need to keep a close eye on cash and costs, he said.
JLR is in an interesting spot. The latest trade deal outline is good for Jaguar and Range Rover, as both build vehicles in the United Kingdom. The Defender, though, is built in the EU. At the same time, a drop in tariffs with India could help the company find other places to sell cars.
The Xiaomi Backlash Came A Little Earlier Than Expected
Like much of the Western Press, we here at The Autopian have been intrigued by the sporty, Taycan-sized SU7 electric sedan from Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi. Ford CEO Jim Farley famously loved the one he borrowed. A prototype version of the super-fast Ultra trim spanked Tesla at the Nürburgring.
Lately, though, the headlines have turned a bit against the upstart carmaker. People started crashing the cars in a way that suggested the car didn’t have brakes to match its horsepower. Then, a fatal crash involving a car being driven while under the control of the vehicle’s assisted-driving system blew up on social media.
According to Reuters, all of this is leading to a sales backlash in the country:
New orders for the SU7 fell 55% in April from March and the trend continued in May, with a 13,500 orders placed in the first two weeks of the month, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note on Wednesday.
That compared to 23,000 orders in the second week of March alone, a weekly all-time high.
Xiaomi was pulled into further controversy last week after it apologised for what it called “unclear communication” following complaints from customers.
SU7 owners said the company had falsely advertised the design of a dual-vent carbon fiber hood it offers at an additional charge of 42,000 yuan ($5,826) on its SU7 Ultra.
Why were they mad? Because the vents weren’t actually vents! Lol.
Subaru Might Slow Roll Its EV Plans
Attending the New York Auto Show this year, you’d get the sense that Subaru is all-in on electrification. The brand showed both the new Subaru Trailseeker EV and a handsomely revised Solterra.
According to Automotive News, global uncertainty is causing the company to at least mix up the timing:
CEO Atsushi Osaki said the overall direction toward electrified vehicles remains unchanged.
But the pace of Subaru’s rollout and the amount of money it plows into the technology is under review as the company braces for sliding sales and withholds earnings guidance.
“We are re-evaluating our plans, including the timing of investments, in light of not only today’s rapidly changing environment but also medium- to long-term external business factors surrounding our company,” Osaki said May 14 while announcing fiscal year financial results.
Subaru’s good times have been a bit at risk, given that, unlike Toyota and Honda, it’s been more heavily import-dependent.
China Loves The EREVs, Or REEVs, Or Whatever
I don’t know if it’s possible to be on the jock of a concept, but we are definitely jock-riding EREVs, or Range Extended Electric Vehicles, or REEVs, as S&P Global refers to them (I much prefer the term EREV because it is onomonapoetic in a way that REEV isn’t). [Ed note: I don’t know about jocks, but I can tell you that I think automakers continuing to build money-losing EVs instead of EREVs are making a big mistake. For modern-day America, and even globally where we’re seeing the EV push slow down a bit, they’re just the right answer. I cannot believe nobody has offered one here since the 2021 BMW i3. -DT].
For all the hype around Chinese electrification, consumers in China also love various hybrids, especially in large vehicles where they make a lot of sense. S&P Global Mobility was on hand in China for the Shanghai Auto Show and walked away expecting EREVs to continue to be a big part of the mix:
According to S&P Global Mobility’s latest light vehicle powertrain production forecast, the manufacture of light vehicles with REEVs in Greater China surged to almost 1.233 million units during 2024, representing a 4.1% share of light vehicle production that year.
S&P Global Mobility forecasts that Greater China will remain the largest production hub for REEVs over the coming years. We expect this powertrain type to make up a 5% share of light-vehicle production in the region in 2025, rising to 8.7% in 2027 and 10.2% in 2030.
This growth will be driven by the continued expansion of China’s broader new energy vehicle market, along with increasing exports to global markets. The rise of REEVs will also align with the introduction of China’s fuel economy regulations.
Bring on the EREVs.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
In honor of today’s theme, it’s “You Spin Me Round” by the enjoyably weird British band Dead or Alive. I would definitely watch a Peter Burns biopic starring Dick Valentine from Electric Six.
The Big Question
Is Jaguar doomed? Or will it be fine?
Top photo: Jaguar
When I think of Jaguar I just think of convertibles, and EVs aren’t the best at convertibles. Maybe they could figure it out and sell the first decent EV convertible, that’d at least be a little more in line with their history.
Delete Ordinary Guy! I almost forgot about him.
how dare you assume their gender!
I will never forget “Temu Tilda Swinton”
Another non-Jag owner. She drives an Equinox, the mid-2010s up to a year ago one. You’d think she was more of a Subaru person, but her day job is at the Enterprise counter and she gets a steep employee discount on used rentals.
Nor should you.
I still say he does NOT look like a Jaguar owner, or the sort of person Jaguar should think they can sell a car to.
He looks like someone who drives a second-generation Prius he bought new.
Come to think of it he does look a little bit like my brother in law. Except he traded his gen 2 Prius for a Rav4 hybrid a couple years back…
Yeah you nailed it.
So you’re telling me not making new cars while selling their old cars, while under the looming threat of their utterly atrocious rebranding means that they managed to eek out a profit?! Say it aint so!
We should enjoy Jag while we can, because they are not going to survive this transition.
It’s Jaguar *Land Rover* profitability.
While Jaguar does whatever it is doing, Land Rover has seen a new record for Defender sales, Range Rover Sport sales up 19.7%, LR branded PHEVs up 38.2%.
In JLR’s own press materials, only LR and vague combined figures are explicitly called out, with Jaguars contributions relegated to mentions of the global model premier and factory retooling.
Absolutely this. Not building vehicles that people dont want and incurring the costs associated with them while selling more of what people do want is going to make the financials look a lot better. Land Rover was profitable. Jaguar existed, kind of.
Bingo! Despite what keyboard warriors, who have never owned a JLR product, will say, the new defender/RRS/RR are fantastic SUV’s that are selling by the boat loads.
I saw a defender pulling a big enclosed trailer today while I was mowing! Was shocked! We have a few around me, but I’ve never seen one working before.
I recently moved from Florida to Colorado, and in both locations I see a lot of Land Rovers. I’m actually surprised at the number of Defenders I see, but that’s just because I find the rear so ugly.
Right, Matts take here is once again, questionable, if not totally misleading. As he doesn’t list any of the sales figures at all, which I feel like must be intentional just to prove his quick point.
Exactly, I was going to say, Jag rebrand topshot notwithstanding, Land Rover was profitable last year.
Exactly! Also, just here to make the corny joke that those who replied are “defenders” of the Defender
I’ll see myself out…
There was a brief moment in 2020/2021 where I thought Subaru’s claims of an all-EV future would mean a new electric STI. I still think that might happen one day but Toyota/Subaru move too slowly these days so I predict that by then it’ll be too little/too late
“The new electric STI. Still not a hatch, still not interested.”
Same, I don’t care what powers it I just want another WRX hatch!
Given that the current one is their very last sedan, especially.
So Xiaomi’s cars that cost 10s of thousands of dollars are the same as my $43 smart band from them – Almost really good, except for some crappy software and bafflingly obvious flaws that should never have made it into a shipping product.
Then again I’m still wearing a MiBand because the alternatives are somehow worse. There’s probably a lesson for their competition here…
Jag is in a weird place the stereotype buyer never really was a thing in the us they were just people who bought them and pulled their hair out when it stranded them in some unusual fasion. But globally problematic people are their key demo. I often think about the Indian kid who got a new bmw for his birthday and drove it into the river because he wanted a jag. Now an Indian tech bro I’m sure. So the pretentious ad probably feeds right into their egos and whatever they think on the planet they are on that revolves around them. So when the very unpretentious people saw it and went what is that it’s going to kill them and I love them because I’m restoring this jag or something not their demo.
Huh?
I dunno about any of that, but I can say they’ve lost their old demographic, I hope the new one works out.
I think a lot of their old demo died. They ran that “baddy” campaign a several years ago and that may have resonated with their new demo.
“The increase in profitability year-on-year reflects higher volumes and a reduction in depreciation and amortisation.”
So EBIT was up. But based on the note it sounds like depreciation and amortization were doing the heavy lifting.
This is exposed a little in their other note about celebrating being net cash positive.
So the improvement in EBIT is due to DA improvements and not really from operations. Which is also consistent with flat/down revenue which they also report.
TLDR, company overall is doing a little better, product/operations is not. Autopian Commentariat are right again.
Jag has always tried to be leading edge. Fastest car, early adopter of IRS, mass market V-12s. Going all electric is the logical next step
Thank the deities that Lucas isn’t building an electric car (I hope)
Jaguar needs to cover up their new design ethos the same way one covers up a bad tattoo: A sick-ass Panther.
That is the rebrand we need.
I’d hate to see Jaguar go the way of the Dodo bird.
Or Sabre tooth tiger!
Gonna’ be another Saab Story. Apologies to fellow forum member SaabStory.
the dodo bird went extinct because too many people liked to eat it and they never considered that they would stop existing as a food source
Jaguar has always been doomed. It should have died decades ago. The question is when, of course.
long enough to still be relevant to the austin powers movies but not much longer than that
2010 I think. By then British appeal wasn’t a marketable thing anymore, and the sport luxury coupe was a segment that had contracted so much that only four cars were selling, being the A5/S5/RS5, CTS, Z4, and CLK (which was replaced that year by the E-class). Jaguar’s XK-R, despite beating everything except the S5/RS5 in magazine testing, just didn’t get enough of a marketing push during a down time in the automotive industry. Mostly because Tata couldn’t afford to since they were still paying off the debts after purchasing Jaguar Land Rover from Ford two years earlier. Jaguar only had one other car which just added to their troubles in the form of the XF, which was a Ford product that Tata didn’t like. The XE didn’t come out until 2015, and Jaguar only survived that period of having two loss vehicles by being a leech to Land Rover who still made money via the Range Rover Sport line.
I can’t disagree with this in any way. Should have died right alongside Saab, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury, and all the other irrelevant brands that died in that period. All had been zombies for a long time at that point.
Putting Jaguar in the same name as Land Rover is so messed up. And it gets worse as time goes by…
could be worse, they could be part of stellantis
*Back* in the same conglomerate you mean – Rover and Jaguar having been part of British Leyland before it imploded and the sundry brands were split off, then Land Rover and Jaguar were remarried by Ford later.
I think they were a rather natural fit 25ish years ago when Ford combined them, but the market has moved on from luxury sedans to luxury SUVs, and sportscars are all but dead unless you are a multi-six-figure exotic producer, which Jaguar certainly is not and never will be. Jaguar making SUVs makes no sense at all given they are stablemates with THE premier luxury SUV brand.
With Forester production set to begin at the Indiana plant next year, the only Subarus not made in the US will be the BRZ and WRX. That seems the opposite of import-dependent to me unless most of their parts are sourced internationally.
Trailseeker and Solterra? Yes, it’s getting better, but it’s not great yet.
Right, I should have remembered the context was in them slowing down their EV plans. Are they still doing the Toyota-partnered 3-row EV crossover at the TMMK plant?
To clarify the abbreviation, EBIT = Earnings Before Income Tax; a slightly more common metric would be EBITDA, which is EBIT + Depreciation and Amortization
‘Erev’ is also the Hebrew word for ‘evening’, so for example to wish someone a good evening you would say ‘Erev tov’.
If we go the REEV route and we aim to misbehave, we can refer to people as REEVers.
Re: Jaguar… I just don’t know. When they said they were going electric-only, I was not happy. They seem to have been flailing a bit over the past year, but I remain hopeful they will pull it together.
I really liked the original Fisker branding of EVER, Electric Vehicle (with) Extended Range because they can go forever! Unfortunately I think that has dropped off the radar entirely and we’re stuck with one of the others.
That’s a good one and it makes sense, but it looks like the goal is to have a term that is not an existing word (which also makes sense for the sake of clarity).
Yeah, but I like the existing word and remember people chuckling about it when the Tesla S and Fisker Karma were new and talking about how it was an intentional bit of shade thrown at full EVs due to their limitations at the time, and I am always here for a bit of smack talk.
I thought the “I” in EBIT and EBITDA referred to “Interest”, but I’m not an accountant.
And would a plug-in hybrid with geofenced self-driving be an ERUV EREV?
You are 100% correct! This is what happens when I post before having coffee. 🙂
Excellent Firefly reference.
JLR’s not had a new model release since 2022.
Think of the savings you could make by continuing to build the same thing.
Worked for Stellantis, until it didn’t.
Honestly, JLR had done worse in the modern era.
Where they had new platforms, materials, and manufacturing for each and every vehicle with limited crossover for savings.
Building the same thing for years was their M.O. from the mid 60s through mid 80s
(Said by a former XJ-12 owner. It was the absolute best car simultaneity being the worst car)
I’m not particularly sanguine about Jaguar’s future. You referred to the rebranding as “tone-deaf and silly”, because it was massively both of those things. Does Jaguar see it that way? Are they still all-in on that Brutalist monstrosity with the marble coffee table as their halo vehicle? Still hell-bent on electrifying the lineup in a world that wants hybrids this week? Do they still think they can crack the Art Basel crowd when they’re still perceived as being a sort of rolling Gainsborough?
I understand the desire to be the brand of the future, but Jaguar needs to move in that direction gradually… new models, hybrids, and recognizing that their heritage plays a part in the purchasing decision and not blowing it up to chase after the “Cool Kids” who will buy Jags for two months until another manufacturer drops something even wilder and they’re on to the next trend. Embracing the past is fine if it’s a good past, and Jaguar has a particularly good past.
lets be fair none of the cool kids are going to buy that DEI designed dumpsterfire of a car
We don’t do that kind of language here
Why are Chinese cars so ugly?
Reminds me I saw some new BMWs on truck and the big grills now have a partial diagonal pattern on them now…not sure how I feel about that.
They sound weird.
Pics/model? What fresh hell is this now?
On 2025 X3 at minimum, Luxury SUVs, Sedans, Coupes, Convertibles & Crossovers | BMW USA
I asked. I clicked. Why did I ask? Why did I click?
At first, I thought maybe it was protective plastic film, but no.
they evolve from stolen designs
Or mutated.
what is mutation if not accelerated evolution
at least that’s what magneto says
That is better than “gene-joke”.
Often chasing “luxury” I guess that’s why you are now hearing “quiet luxury” in the west now. Need to differentiate from the new money loud “luxury” crowd.
Seems more like weird luxury
Loud weird what’s the difference if it looks like it belongs in perfume commercial then you found their demo. Champion is big in China and Vietnam the $1.99 Kmart sweat shirt company no body wanted that’s all you need to know about their demo. I bet Avon could do numbers too.
Say it with me, counselor. Xiaomi the money.
Xiaomi the money?
I’ve got a mediator ready to Xiaomi the money. What about you? Say it.
Xiaomi the money!
LOUDER. Like you mean it!
XIAOMI THE MONEY.
Xiaomi the money. Do you love this lawsuit?
I LOVE LAWSUITS!
Only if it has a narrator voiced by Matt Berry
To me, the Jag rebrand is starting to feel like a New Coke moment – it’s either a colossal mistake or a conspiracy to generate interest in the original product. Either way, people remember.
They just fired the ad agency that came up with it, doesn’t seem like something they’d do if it was all according to plan
did they now?
Yes, but management that approved of it all (and probably also guided the ad agency) is still there…
“Economic uncertainty” is just Subaru’s way of saying that they can’t figure out how to get electric motors to blow head gaskets yet.
“I want your loooOOOOoOOOoOOoooooove”
Man, that song is embedded in my brain and such peak 80’s!!
My very conservative dad had… opinions about that video.
Then they succeeded! Get the olds riled up was the goal!
Gee, after being exposed to all that androgynous & devil worshipping media in my youth, it’s a wonder I still turned out to be a plain, straight working stiff, married with kids. Just ended up being more ‘accepting’. Guess Tipper Gore was worried for nothing. (haha).
I remember that song from the 80s. I know I’ve seen the video, but it’s been years.
Seeing it now… I know your conservative dad’s opinions. It’s weird how things that look 100% obvious to me today didn’t register when I was young.
I was raised very conservative and actually ended up having stuff go over my head. I remember being a naughty kid and seeing the video to “Relax” that was only shown on late night TV once. It was boring, although the song was good.
I just watched two videos from that song. One was the video I watched as a kid. Frankie does a concert and everyone goes nuts. The lyrics are “interesting” but the video is boring. The other was the original video. I’ll just say “wow”. Yeah, 50+ year old me can’t believe that was available on Youtube and 100% see why it was edited. But I think young me would have never gotten the obvious references.
I hadn’t thought about that song in a very long time, and now I regret not forcing myself to go out to The Metro and Spit at least once during my college years. Eighties moment, fer shur.
Hey, I know I’m old and cranky. That’s reaffirmed pretty much every day. I look at whatever the hell Jag is doing, and the electric shaver front end of whatever Chinese thing is at the bottom of the article, and it’s just…whatever. I miss what Jag used to be and I think the new direction is dumb but if that’s what they want, whatever. I’ve got an Outback and I like it but as for electric Subaru/hybrid Subaru? Eh. Ok, go ahead.
Am I out of touch or are the children wrong? I’m guessing I’m out of touch, because I just bought a 37 year old Saab.
“I’m guessing I’m out of touch, because I just bought a 37 year old Saab.”
That’s your SAABstory and you’re sticking to it.
4th SAAB so yeah, I’m sticking to the story.
I’d buy a 37yo Saab before I bought a single thing available new on the market today. Happily. I’m out, cars have well and truly jumped the shark for me. Yuck across the board, inside and outside.
An ’88 C900T (assuming it’s what is in your avatar) is a fine, fine choice of automobile. I had an ’85 C900T and a ’92 C900CVT, loved them both. The ’92 still resides in one of my garages, though I haven’t owned it for a decade or more.
The C900 in my avatar is what my first one looked like, but I just bought an 88 900 Turbo convertible. It’s been refreshing, even though some stuff doesn’t work like the power roof, but zero nags and it’s completely analog.
Nice! Like most small-volume cars, they are brilliant and stupid at the same time, but the brilliant definitely outweighs the stupid if you are a keen driver.
That link about how Jaguar’s demise has been greatly exaggerated seems to have a lot of great news about how well Land Rover is doing and not so much in the way about how well Jaguar is doing.
Maybe Jaguar did do fine last year, but I wouldn’t look at Stellantis’ overall corporate profits to talk about how good Chrysler is doing.
Or GM profits regarding Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn…
Yes, like I said in the piece, the ONE COOL TRICK to make JLR profitable is to… not build Jaguars.
People are literally paying Jaguar to not have to drive their cars. The British automotive industry could’ve been the most profitable one in the entire world if they had implemented this strategy in the 1970s.
Paying Jag to not drive their cars is why they are being used as autonomous taxis…
And, yet, for years, this was a company that was primarily SUVs that was the only company making SUVs that couldn’t make money on them.
Like RadioShack going out of business in the age of electronics