Jaguar's boss has defended the car maker's decision to stop selling new cars for a year ahead of its bold transition to electric vehicles.

The British brand has ceased sales of all petrol and diesel models for the UK market for the first time since the Second World War as it terminates its 102-year relationship with the internal combustion engine.

This comes ahead of its switch to battery power from 2026 and its dealers closed order books to new customers last week, leaving Jaguar with no new cars on sale for what it dubbed a 'sunset period'.

When asked if it was a mistake to be taking a 12-month hiatus from the market, managing director Rawdon Glover said it has always been part of a 'strategic decision', with Jaguar wanting a 'fire break' period for dealers and customers to prepare for its electric rebrand.

Jaguar is now completely reliant on its used car retail network to see it through the next 12 months. 

While many car manufacturers have pumped the brakes on their ambitions to go electric this decade, Jaguar is bucking the trend.

Its headstrong approach will gather pace next month when it unveils a concept version of its electric vision, which hints at the battery cars it will bring to the table before 2030.

In preparation for this, it has wound up outputs of existing models for UK customers, with the British-built XE and XF saloons, and F-Type sports car ended in May.

Production of its biggest model - F-Pace - will continue in Solihull for the foreseeable, however this will only be outputs for overseas markets. A spokesperson for the brand confirmed UK-spec production terminated this month. 

And while manufacturing continues for the compact E-Pace SUV and its only electric car - I-Pace - in Graz, Austria, until the end of the year, its UK allocation has also sold out.

Jaguar says I-Pace availability continues but only for 'corporate clients into 2025'.

It means Jaguar has essentially halted all car sales in Britain for the first time since WW2.

Next Tuesday, Jaguar bosses will shine some light on the marque's new brand identity and how it will tackle the business' dramatic shift change.

Ahead of the announcement, Glover said the year-long exit from the new car market was part of a scheduled 'fire break' to 'give customers and dealers the chance to reset as we move towards this new era for the brand,' according to Car Dealer Magazine.

A spokesperson for Jaguar told This is Money: 'As part of a planned sunset period of our current Jaguar vehicles, new car sales in the UK have come to an end as we prepare to relaunch the Jaguar brand from December 2024. 

'Ahead of our future Jaguar collection, we have intentionally created breathing space where the new brand and vision can come to life.

'UK clients will be able to buy current Jaguar models on an approved pre-owned basis through our UK retail network, and for existing Jaguar clients, servicing, repairs, and warranty work will continue through our Jaguar authorised repairer network.'

Jaguar driving in a different direction to rivals 

Jaguar's decision to plough ahead with its electric transition is a major contrast to some of its biggest rivals.

Bentley last week became the latest to backtrack on its EV pledge, confirming it had delayed its plan to become an EV-only car firm by five years to 2035. It also said its first fully-electric car arriving in 2026 will not be a svelte luxury coupe but instead a large, premium SUV.

In September, Volvo announced it would not become an electric-only car brand from 2030, as it had previously promised.

The Swedish marque - which is now big competition for JLR in the premium vehicle segment - said it now aims for 90 to 100 per cent of its global sales to be either pure electric or plug-in hybrid by the end of the decade.

Luxury car maker Porsche also announced this autumn it was pushing back its plans as a result of the transition to EV taking longer than it thought.

It has watered down its aims for 80 per cent of sales to be all-electric by 2030 and went on to confirm it will continue to sell the existing Cayenne SUV with combustion engines into the next decade.

In recent months, Toyota has confirmed it will significantly reduce its EV production volumes for 2026, while Renault's boss said car makers were not on the 'right trajectory' to go fully electric by 2035 - the EU's proposed date to ban new petrol and diesel cars, which is five years later than the UK's deadline. 

Ford bosses in July said it will not go fully electric in 2030, despite claiming it would back in February 2021. 

Aston Martin has also said it is delaying the launch of its first EV in response in declining demand for new electric cars. 

The industry's mass retreat on EV promises also comes against a backdrop of brands slashing their existing electric car prices in an effort to drum-up sales, announcements of extended lifecycles for petrol cars and some brands temporarily shutting down battery vehicle production lines due to a lack of demand.