Jaguar is launching its first all-electric automobile this yr, the I-Tempo, and it’s arguably essentially the most anticipated new EV of the yr. However now we’ve heard from some dissatisfied homeowners that some are seeing their deliveries being pushed again by a number of months.
Sellers say it is because of “manufacturing points” whereas Jaguar says it’s “prioritizing” orders.
At Electrek, we’ve been fairly excited concerning the I-Tempo ever because the gorgeous electrical automobile was unveiled and much more so after testing it final month.
Based mostly on its reservation course of, Jaguar says that the demand is excessive for the automobile and we’ve no downside believing it.
Some individuals who reserved the British automaker’s first all-electric automobiles had been advised that by reserving the automobile early, they’d safe a supply by the top of the yr.
A number of of them have now reached out to Electrek to say that their deliveries have been pushed considerably as their native Jaguar sellers blamed the problem on manufacturing delays.
We contacted Jaguar over the problem and the automaker says that it nonetheless plans for buyer manufacturing to begin “late this summer time”, nevertheless it confirmed that some prospects are experiencing delays on account of “prioritization”:
“In some situations particular person prospects could have been knowledgeable of a delay relating to their order. This might be on account of prioritisation of market particular orders to greatest meet the distinctive demand.”
In some instances, that “prioritization” is having fairly a big impression.
A reservation holder based mostly within the UK advised Electrek that he positioned a £1,000 deposit on March fifth, 2018. On the time, we didn’t have all the main points concerning the automobile but, however he was fairly and advised that by inserting a deposit proper then, it could safe a 2018 supply.
In Might, he was invited to see the automotive at his native dealership and configure his order: an I-Tempo SE in metallic purple, std steel roof, std coil suspension, upgraded Matrix LED lights, heads-up show, and driver help bundle.
At the moment, he was given a construct date of August 31 and a supply to the supplier for September 28 in 2018 as initially promised.
July 20 was the final day for him to switch the order, which he didn’t need to do, however he nonetheless known as the supplier to ensure all the pieces was so as and it was then that they knowledgeable him of the “manufacturing delay” and gave him a brand new February sixth supply date – over 4 months after his authentic supply date.
We obtained comparable stories from individuals with I-Tempo SUVs on order with 3 to 4 months delays.
Jaguar says that the primary buyer deliveries are nonetheless deliberate to begin “late this summer time”:
“After the profitable launch of I-PACE, Jaguar’s all-electric efficiency SUV, manufacturing is now focussed on assembly the distinctive buyer demand. Since launch, we’ve confirmed that buyer deliveries might be happening from late summer time of this yr and that is nonetheless the right timeline.”
As for the “prioritization”, the automaker didn’t verify it, however not one of the orders that we’ve seen being delayed are for the First Version, which begins at $86,895 as a substitute of $70,495, like the usual model.
A supply aware of the matter advised Electrek that Jaguar’s provide of Matrix LED headlights are literally restricted and the corporate is likely to be pushing orders of non-First Version automobiles so as to deal with the First Version automobiles which have to be 2019 mannequin yr.
Jaguar will not be assembling its first all-electric automobile itself. The British automaker employed Magna Steyr to assemble the I-Tempo at its Graz manufacturing unit in Austria. Manufacturing for patrons is anticipated to begin within the coming months.
Electrek’s Take
As we suspected for some time now, the I-Tempo goes to be one other manufacturing constrained electrical automobile – that means that demand goes to be a lot greater than what Jaguar and its manufacturing accomplice are capable of ship.
These delays appear like the primary concrete instance of that as I think that Jaguar is seeing greater than anticipated demand for the higher-end model of the I-Tempo, just like the First Version, and now it has to delay different orders.
The state of affairs will not be not like what is going on with the Mannequin 3, which Tesla began delivering with the higher-end model first.
However Tesla is ramping manufacturing as much as meet demand and it is going to be attention-grabbing to see how Jaguar reacts if the I-Tempo turns into as standard as I feel it is going to be.
The British automaker has by no means been an especially excessive quantity automaker, nevertheless it has constantly produced over 100,000 automobiles per yr.
As for the deliberate manufacturing of the I-Tempo, we’ve heard something from 10,000 to 30,000 items per yr.
With Waymo having ordered 20,000 items alone over the following few years, I feel Jaguar ought to be inspired to determine a big manufacturing ramp to satisfy the demand from companions and prospects.
What do you assume? Tell us within the remark part under.