Jaguar won’t be adopting large front grilles anytime soon



Looks like we won’t be seeing those large grilles from the BMW 7 Series or the Concept 4 on Jaguars anytime soon.

Jaguar’s new head of design, Julian Thomson, who took over from Ian Callum last year, has attributed this phenomenon to the growing market in China.

It’s said that because most consumers in China are first/second generation car buyers, they’ve been quite brand obsessed yet do not know what brand’s is what.

The BMW Concept 4.

Car makers have responded to this by designer strong, prominent front ends for their cars to be instantly identifiable.

Callum further added that this has led to certain car makers designing “faces that only a mother could love” and that Jaguar would not “torture the metal” this way.

The newly updated Jaguar F-Type.

Strong words indeed but if you’ve been observing the direction of certain upscale brands, he has a point – with front grilles so large they overwhelm the impression of the entire car’s design.

As for Jaguar’s approach, Callum said a design language is necessary but there should be some element of civility in it. In the case of the new Jaguar F-Type, while the attention-grabbing front end now features a noticeably larger grille, it’s the biggest it’ll be for now.