Luxury car maker Jaguar has unveiled its recent electric concept car and, like a recent controversial teaser video, it has divided view.

Some on social media said the recent Type 00 car was “exciting” and “absolutely stunning”, while others called it “rubbish” and told Jaguar’s designers to “leave back to the drawing board”.

However, the carmaker has suggested the reaction is exactly what it wanted, as it tries to reset its brand to revive sluggish sales.

“Jaguar needs to be bold and disruptive in order to cut through and get our communication across,” boss Rawdon Glover told the BBC.

He said his objective was to restore Jaguar’s image as a luxury brand, while no longer trying to compete by pumping out large numbers of cars.

Jaguar has long been the weakest link within the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) throng, which also makes Range Rovers and Land Rover Defenders.

Since 2018, sales have plunged from 180,000 to just 67,000 last year.

Last month, JLR stopped selling recent Jaguars in the UK altogether, ahead of its relaunch as an electric-only brand in 2026

The firm also announced a recent logo, alongside a so-called “social media tease“, which featured models dressed in luminous colours but no actual vehicles.

Many criticised the advert as “woke”, with Elon Musk – boss of Jaguar competitor Tesla – asking “Do you sell cars?”

Others criticised the transformation to Jaguar’s iconic growling cat badge, which has been altered and no longer appears on the front of the car.

Mr Glover has defended the attempt, saying the debate helped to draw “more eyeballs” to the firm for this week’s unveiling of the recent concept car.

“In that context… the way was successful,” he said.

“We absolutely don’t desire to ostracize any of our customer base … But, as I declare, [the] most significant thing for us is we require to attract a recent spectators to Jaguar’s brand to make sure that we are safeguarding the next 90 years of Jaguar’s upcoming.”

JLR announced the shift to electric vehicles in 2021, keeping all of its three British plants open as part of the way.

It said the selection to stop selling recent Jaguar cars in the UK last month was a deliberate shift to “make some breathing space” before unveiling its recent look.

The Type 00 model unveiled at a Miami art fair is a concept car and so will not leave into production for sale to the community.

Instead, the vehicle, which features an ultra-long bonnet and large wheels, gives a pointer to the path of the brand’s recent models.

Mr Glover said Jaguar had “ripped up the rulebook” with the recent design, which is also intended to evoke Jaguars history when the brand was in its heyday.

The rebrand comes with a higher worth point, with Jaguar aiming for the luxury economy.

“Nobody needs a vehicle at £120,000. You have to desire one,” he said.

“Overall, this has got that sense of real occasion. And that’s that’s what we ponder is perhaps missing in that luxury EV space,” he added.

But many on social media were nonplussed by the preview.

James May, broadcaster and former presenter of Top Gear, said he was “slightly disappointed” by the design and its worth.

“I wanted something more futuristic,” he told the BBC. “I cruel, Jaguar have been saying they will copy nothing, but there’s quite a bit of other concept cars in that recent Jag.”

May said Jaguar cars had traditionally been “very reasonably priced compared with, for example, Aston Martin”.

“So I’d like to view something more like half the worth that they’re toting at the instant.”

Beatrix Keim, director at the Center of Automotive Research, said that Jaguar’s concept car was “too large, too unreal”.

“This is not the way to leave,” she said, given that there are already large cars in the economy and “electric cars cannot only be for the wealthy”.

“Of course, Jaguar is a luxury brand,” she added. “But I don’t ponder that this is the path which Jaguar at current point of period needs, because it’s losing out on volume as well. And this is not a volume car.”

Amanda Stretton, a racing driver and motoring journalist, also said she thought Jaguar was going in the “incorrect path” on worth.

“The economy for cars in excess of £100,000 is not enormous. So Jaguar’s trying to shatter into a economy that’s already tightly fought,” she said, adding that the size of the recent car appeared to be “absolute nonsense”.

“It needs to be shrunk by about 50% to be practical.”