Great Leap Forward

Just like its iconic bonnet ornament, Leaper, the British carmaker is jumping headlong into the future with new design boss Julian Thomson and its first digital concept car.

If there was an industry we could choose not to be in at the moment, it would be automotive design. To say the industry is facing seismic changes would be understating things somewhat.

Electric cars will be all the rage in the next few years, with most carmakers promising a full sub-range of electric vehicles, or electrified versions of their current line-up, by 2025. Then you have the small matter of autonomy and the prospect of the fully driverless car.

These changes will have huge implications on the way we interact with vehicles, and naturally, the way they’re designed. The compact nature of electric drivetrains and the negation of the steering wheel means traditional vehicle silhouettes and interior layouts could go out the window.

A vehicle’s interior could fully be dedicated to cabin space, which means a sort of lounge on the inside and a sort of egg-shaped blob on the outside, which is probably the least exciting thing we could think of designing.

However, at least one car designer isn’t too worried about the future. That car designer is Julian Thomson, the newly minted head of Jaguar’s design team. A man who’s taking over the reins from the industry legend that is Ian Callum and becoming only the third Jaguar design director in the carmaker’s history.

No pressure, right? And we haven’t even got to the bit about increasingly stringent crash safety and emissions legislations, which will also have an impact on how cars will look in the future. But this is a job Thomson is relishing. “The world is changing so quickly. It’s very exciting being in charge of such a brand. As a car designer, there are certain brands that you really want to define and Jaguar certainly is one of those.”