Did Faguar ‘go woke and go broke’? No, it’s more complex

The silly season discourse pinning Jaguar sales figures on a car that didn’t even exist was irritating - they’re simply not making cars, but there’s life in the old cat yet (Getty)

- SEAN O'GRADY

It’s genuinely unnerving, not to say upsetting, when even supposedly mainstream media report news that is not news, leaving the reader, knowingly or not, entirely misinformed about why. It’s especially upsetting, I should add, for those of us who care about such things, when it concerns a venerated marque and a slice of what’s left of the British motor industry.

I refer, of course, to Jaguar, maker of some of the most beautiful, graceful and exhilarating cars in history. All last week, there were headlines such as “Go woke, go broke! Jaguar sales have crashed 97.5% since rebrand that stunned fans” and “WOKE WOE Jaguar sales plummet 97.5% after fierce backlash over woke pink ‘rebrand’ that left fans slamming ‘nonsense’ EV”. “Jaguar is heading for oblivion” was one of the more accurate ones, but only because it’s been heading for oblivion on and off for most of the last half-century. “Jaguar still alive” would be a better story.