Jaguar insists its controversial rebrand was a success – but I'm not buying it

Few rebrands have caused as much controversy in recent years as Jaguar's new look. While many brands have been chasing heritage aesthetics lately, Jaguar went the other way, and then some. With bold, bright colours and a curvy new wordmark, the rebrand was accused of being everything from too modern, to too 'woke'. But Jaguar insists it worked – sort of.

According to MarketWatch, Jaguar announced in a presentation this week that the rebrand boosted Google traffic from higher household income individuals by 24%, and more than doubled traffic to the Jaguar website. Jaguar also claims it successfully attracted a younger audience, seeing a 20% increase in younger people who said "Jaguar as a brand is worth paying more for." One of the best rebrands of all time then, right?

But elsewhere, the numbers aren't looking so rosy. According to DesignRush, Jaguar has not only lowered its financial guidance for the fiscal year, but it also sold just 49 cars in April, representing a 97.5% drop from the same month last year.

And then there are reports that Jaguar is already reviewing its account with the ad agency responsible for the rebrand. Accenture Song's contract with Jaguar runs out in 2026, but Consultancy UK suggests the car brand is considering letting the agency go – which doesn't suggest it's thrilled with the response to the rebrand.

And what a response it was. In a rare move, Jaguar itself waded into the discourse by, as the BBC reported, asking people to 'trust and reserve judgement' on the rebrand. Which is pretty unprecedented step – it's not like a luxury brand to acknowledge the unpopularity of one of its creative decisions. The brand might have seen a rush of Google searches, but if those car sales don't pick up, perhaps Jaguar will soon run out of steam when it comes to defending the new look.