Jaguar design director Julian Thomson told Autocar last year the new XJ will look different from a traditional executive saloon. “Even saying F-segment long-wheelbase luxury saloon sounds awful. We don’t want to do that,” he said at the 2019 Frankfurt show. “We want to do a car that explores the best of Jaguar.

“We want to make it a beautiful car, with an engaging drive, a luxurious interior. We’ll do each of these our own way. We won’t be putting a tape measure on rivals to just match, match, match.

“We want to present something that challenges the norm, offer an alternative that makes it better and more engaging on all levels to own and to drive. That’s what we’re all about: the love of the car.”

Thomson said the next XJ’s design will “not be conventional”, adding: “I don’t think you can be. You don’t stick a poster on a wall of a German long-wheelbase luxury saloon, I don’t think. Jag’s positioning of cars is to lust after, to want and desire. We can absolutely do that and it’s a fabulous-looking thing, for sure.”

Thomson noted the packaging of an EV offers increased cabin space, but said that also presented challenges to designers.

He said: “We’re learning how to do the aesthetic. They’re heavier, need more structures for crash. The mass means you have normal building blocks in different places. These are things we’re learning.

“We feel we’ve had an advantage with I-Pace. We’ve learned a lot from it, not just with the technology but what we can do with space. EVs are serene and have a sense of calm, more of a spiritual quality. It’s as close as you can get to doing yoga in a car. We’ll bring that into XJ, bring a sense of cabin ambience that’s calm and refreshing.”

The firm confirmed last year that the XJ will be relaunched in 2020 as an electric model and will be built at its Castle Bromwich plant. Jaguar announced the news on the day that production of the current XJ ended at the factory.

The electric XJ will be the first electric model produced at the plant, but Jaguar Land Rover said it plans to manufacture “a range of new electrified vehicles” at the facility.