Just before the holidays last year, British automaker Jaguar shocked everyone when they decided to overhaul their brand identity. From “It's good to be bad”, Jaguar's new philosophy is now “Copy Nothing” which traces its roots back to the words of its founder, Sir William Lyons.

With Jaguar's rebranding, they are going all in on electric vehicles (EVs) and are set to reveal more unique-looking vehicles. But Jaguar's new brand identity caught everyone off guard with enthusiasts sharing their distaste of Jaguar's new look and philosophy. Some even went on to say that this could spell the end of Jaguar as a brand.

Clearly, Jaguar's new direction is not sitting well with most of their fans and customer base. But truth be told, Jaguar expected this kind of reaction to happen. Heck, the automaker shared that it's part of the plan to elicit such reactions, good or bad. This comes after we spoke with Jaguar Land Rover Philippines boss Chris Ward during a recent drive event.

According to the executive, the automaker went for the “Shock and Awe” strategy in Jaguar's rebranding. The plan first started around 7 years ago when Jaguar discontinued the XJ. While they still had the XE and XF at the time, both cars faced challenges because of other premium competitors like Audi, BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz.

Ward added that Jaguar lost its character when it started to catch up to other brands. Since Jaguar considers itself a niche brand, the automaker decided they needed to move further upmarket because the premium market is becoming congested. However, Ward mentioned they will move upmarket but not at the level of Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

What about Jaguar's core customers? Chris Ward mentioned that the brand doesn't mind losing its core customers because it's time to move on. In fact, the Philippines is included in Jaguar's rebranding which means we can expect changes to happen in the not-so-distant future.

But that doesn't mean Jaguar will simply abandon its existing customer base who still have Jaguar vehicles. Ward added that as a whole, Land Rover dealers will still continue to service Jaguars. The brand will not forget its existing customers despite the rebrand.

With Jaguar serious about its EV ambitions with the reveal of the 00 concept, the production version is set to be released 9 to 12 months from now. However, not all global markets will get their hands on the new Jaguar as the brand will focus on markets where they have a strong presence.

Do you think Jaguar's strategy to move upmarket will prove to be a decisive move in the end? Let us know in the comments.