Could Jaguar turn into an EV brand?

2019 Jaguar I-Pace, photographed outside Tesla Store, Mount Kisco, NY

Jaguar offers an impressive lineup of powerful and elegantly styled sport sedans and SUVs, but the vehicles have failed to stand out in what no doubt is a crowded playing field.

It's why management is considering a radical plan to turn Jaguar into a premium electric car brand to rival Tesla, Autocar reported Friday.

It's a strategy Geely is undertaking for its Polestar performance brand, which beyond the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid coupe will only sell EVs. There's also (Aston Martin) Lagonda and Pininfarina, which plan to target the ultra-luxury EV market.

According to Autocar, Jaguar management has already come up with a potential plan that would see the lineup transition to a fully electric one within the next five to seven years. Jaguar already has a dedicated electric car platform that it debuted in the 2019 I-Pace.

If the plan goes ahead, the next EV would be a redesigned XJ due in about two years. The electric XJ would be positioned against the Tesla Model S and upcoming EQS from Mercedes-Benz.

Further out, the slow-selling XE and XF, as well as the F-Pace, would be replaced by a new electric crossover, and the E-Pace would be replaced by a redesigned I-Pace. A redesigned F-Type is due out in the coming years, along with a new J-Pace mid-size SUV, and under the plan these too would be replaced by electric successors toward the end of the next decade.

It's a radical plan but Jaguar's sales are struggling, due mostly to a sedan-heavy lineup. At the same time, demand for electric cars is on the rise, due to improvements in the technology and generous government incentive programs. This week it was revealed that Tesla sales worldwide outnumbered those of Jaguar for the first nine months of 2018, coming in at 154,000 units versus 136,000.