Is the concept of a 'car' incorrect? Well, Jaguar has consulted the dictionary and decided it needs changing.

In a bizarre instance of semantic principle meeting marketing opportunity, Jaguar is pressuring the world’s authority of all things English, to change its definition of a ‘car’.

When you are in doubt, the Oxford English Dictionary is your reference guide to understanding, checking and correctly using 600000 different English words.

One of those 600000 words is presenting an issue for automotive companies which are transitioning from internal-combustion to battery-powered vehicles.

For decades the word ‘car’ has hardly generated a complaint to Oxford English Dictionary staff. But if you read the definition, there is an issue.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a car as:” ‘a road vehicle powered by a motor (usually an internal combustion engine) designed to carry a driver and a small number of passengers, and usually having two front and two rear wheels, esp. for private, commercial, or leisure use’.

What Jaguar would like, is an amendment to include the terms battery and/or electric power. It is an entirely reasonable request, in lieu of current developments in vehicle electrification and Jaguar’s own status as a vanguard EV company, with its I-Pace battery-powered crossover.

Jaguar feels so strongly about this, they have even established a hashtag for like-minded followers to express their thoughts on the issue – and show support.

So, if you want the Oxford English Dictionary people to do some work around their definition of ‘car’, contact Jaguar on your favourite social channel with the #RedefineTheCar tag.