Jaguar divides opinion with "gobsmacking" EV concept

British carmaker Jaguar has sparked controversy online after revealing its Type 00 concept car, with some people calling it a "design triumph" and others an "ugly, clunky behemoth".

The boxy concept car was unveiled at Miami art week last night in two colours – Miami pink and London blue – showcasing Jaguar's new design direction as it pivots to being an electric-only brand. Much like the rebrand Jaguar debuted last month, the design has divided opinion among commentators.

British journalist Alexander Larman described the concepts as "ugly, clunky behemoths".

"My first reaction when I saw the images of the Miami Pink and London Blue Type 00 was to clutch my sides in horror and restrain myself from shouting obscenities in public, so violently ugly were the new vehicles," he wrote in news magazine The Spectator.

Others critiqued the design as too violent a departure from Jaguar's existing language and too expensive to be sold in great volumes, with an estimated cost of more than £100,000.

"This is not the way to go," Beatrix Keim, director of the Center of Automotive Research, told the BBC. "Electric cars cannot only be for the rich."

Yet many of the journalists who saw the Type 00 concept in person at Miami art week had more positive things to say, with Andrew English of The Telegraph calling the "resplendently pink machine" a "design triumph".

"The car actually unveiled in Miami has slightly smoother lines, and the side profile is gobsmacking," agreed Forbs's James Morris.

"It's a car that will grab as much attention on the road as the ad campaign has on social media."

After renders of the car leaked ahead of the launch, Jaguar's chief creative officer Gerry McGovern defended the design at the event in Miami.

"Jaguar has no desire to be loved by everybody," he said. "It has already stirred emotions and it will continue to. Some may love it now, some may love it later, and some may never love it."

"And that's ok, because that's what fearless creativity does."

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