I honestly forgot the I-Pace was in production. Sad they haven't been able to update it to keep it competitive.
I know I'll get the 'tinfoil hat' treatment for this, but, here goes... , there was never an intention to update the I-Pace, as its job, its existence, was to sell JLR, for Tata.
The car was rushed to market, after JLR's Jaguar New Gen fell flat on its face - XE, XF II - 'British Baddies' etc - and then Dieselgate on top, with it being deliberately showered with global awards - most awarded car ever - set up by the UK/US press as The Second Coming and a Tesla Beater, all to make the shopwindow of JLR extremely attractive .
Bollore let the cat out of the bag, when he said JLR was offered to Renault when he was there - it was hawked around to everyone - Fiat/Agnellis-Elkann, PSA/Robert Peugeot-Peugeot family, BMW/Quandts, etc.
Tata and the UK-US 'global' media even put out in very early 2019, just after the launch of the I-Pace, that the sale of JLR was '90% done', 'just the is to dot and ts to cross', to PSA or Fiat.
It was all a lie, trying to bounce someone into buying it - embarrassing private, tentative conversations, or making people have fomo - it must be good, as everyone is trying to buy it - let's get our bid in.
Appalling - what Tata, its financial advisers, bankers, and PR and legal firms did, to try to make the sale of JLR, back around 4 years ago, with the I-Pace the star of the show.
Luckily, the likes of Robert Peugept and John Elkann saw through it, them, as of course Tata, its agents, would have had to open the JLR books anyway - the real ones, or nearer to reality ones - and no one would have bought it - maybe they did see them, which is why the 'sale' was called off at the 11th hour.
The I-Pace was never a serious vehicle. It was a vehicle simply to get JLR sold, by a desperate Tata, after the debacle of Jag New Gen in 2015, and then Dieselgate in 2016, which Ralf Speth had bet the farm on - Ingenium, 99g/km diesel, minimum company car tax - huge expected sales, Jag lifting off, taking BMW, Merc, Audi on, head-on - the full nine yards - all blew up spectacularly.
The media played its part, fully, as described. The infamous statement by Autocar's Steve Cropley that: 'the I-Pace has 25,000 confirmed orders', in around September 2018, stands out, The git was lying, paid to lie, make people think I-Pace was a huge hit, and so seal the JLR sale - 'buy the company that's made the car that's beaten Tesla'.
A huge fraud. Didn't work, thank god.
