FUTURE-TYPE Concept Is the Jaguar You Won't Be Driving in 2040

A better way to describe it would be Jaguar's take on Amazon's Alexa or Google's Assistant, with a much more pronounced proclivity toward dealing with car-related stuff. The Sayer would sit in your living room and act as a decoration for most of the time, but then spring into action whenever called upon.

Jaguar said that one of its functions would be to summon you a ride depending on your schedule. As a member of Jaguar's on-demand service club, you have access to either your own vehicle (thank God for that) or a host of others as part of the great ride-sharing program.

Well, the Brits are now showing us one of the vehicles Sayer might have waiting at your front door, and it's not exactly what we would have expected. Usually, these autonomous, connected, electric, shared (ACES) vehicles look like nothing you would enjoy driving.

They're large, bulky, and with an interior-focused design. The cabin is the focal point as it's there that the occupants will chat, drink, work, watch a movie, sleep - do all the things a driver couldn't have done until now.

Jaguar's FUTURE-TYPE Concept does all that, albeit for a reduced number of passengers, since it offers a semi-tandem seating configuration of 2 plus 1. While the seats can turn to face each other, Jaguar didn't forget about driving either.

Even though the FUTURE-TYPE is fully autonomous, Sayer is not its only steering wheel. The electric vehicle's cabin gets one of its own, so the driver can take control whenever they feel like it. In fact, since the car knows where and which way you're going at all times, it can even recommend the drive to take over when a nice bit of road is coming up.

"FUTURE-TYPE offers an insight into the potential for driving and car ownership in the future," said Ian Callum, Director of Design at Jaguar. "It’s part of our vision for how a luxury car brand could continue to be desirable, in a more digital and autonomous age."

The convenience of the FUTURE-TYPE goes beyond its availability. The vehicle can communicate with other cars, making urban traffic a much more free-flowing and less risky affair. It is also unusually narrow which means it'll take less space when parked and squeeze through traffic more easily.

Jaguar will be showing the new concept next week in Frankfurt, but it goes without saying you shouldn't look for any real-world applications for the FUTURE-TYPE. It's just Jaguar's way of saying "we understand which way the industry is going and we're ready for it," even though nobody really is.