A variety of new cars landed at the Chengdu Auto Show, and Jaguar Land Rover stepped up its product offensive to start a ＂turnaround＂

On September 4, the day before the opening of the Chengdu Auto Show, the Jaguar Land Rover China and Chery Jaguar Land Rover Joint Day with the theme of "Zhiling Mountain Road, Zongqing Track" was grandly held.

At the press conference, the British luxury car brand not only brought a number of new car debuts, but also announced a series of brand strategy adjustments and future plans, in order to return to its former leading position in the luxury car market "sprint" at the end of the year.

In terms of products, the most eye-catching event at this conference is undoubtedly the new Jaguar XEL, which will make its world debut. As a luxury mid-range sports sedan under the Jaguar brand, the new car adheres to the innovative concept of "internal and external repair, comprehensive evolution", continuing the Jaguar XEL’s running model streamline posture. The new "Leopard Eyes" headlights with slender size and running water type turn signals are matched with a larger air intake grille, making the vehicle’s vision more dynamic.

In terms of power, the new XEL will be equipped with PT153 1.5T inline three-cylinder engine and PT204 2.0T inline four-cylinder engine. Depending on the adjustment, the maximum power of the 1.5T engine includes 160 horsepower and 200 horsepower, while the maximum power of the 2.0T engine is also divided into 200 horsepower and 250 horsepower. The gearbox continues to be equipped with an 8-speed automatic transmission. It is reported that the new Jaguar XEL will be launched within the year.

In addition, the 2020 Jaguar F-PACE Range Rover Evoque Customized Edition, the 2020 Range Rover Sport Edition and the Range Rover 50th Anniversary SV Collector’s Edition have been unveiled one after another, among which, the 2020 Jaguar F-PACE launched a total of 4 models, the price range is 475,800 – 787,800 yuan; 2020 Range Rover Sport launched a total of 4 models, the price range is 864,800 – 1.103 million yuan; 2020 Land Rover SV models launched a total of 3 models, the price range is 1.838 million yuan – 3.213 million yuan.

It is worth noting that, as a young joint venture, Chery Jaguar Land Rover once welcomed 200,000 vehicles off the production line in only 43 months, creating a new speed of luxury car manufacturing, and once sold in China second only to the German luxury three. However, with the domestic auto market suffering a cold snap, Jaguar Land Rover also ushered in the most difficult time in China.

However, just as everything has its pros and cons, setbacks and challenges have given Jaguar Land Rover the opportunity to fully introspect and adjust. Zhu Hengli, executive vice president of Jaguar Land Rover China and Chery Jaguar Land Rover joint market sales and service organization, also admitted in an interview with surging news reporters that the overall performance of the automobile market in recent years has been relatively just passable. This year, Jaguar Land Rover does face many challenges, but Jaguar Land Rover has achieved good results through effective adjustments.

The vice president of Jaguar Land Rover’s sales organization in the Chinese market started to enter the automotive industry in 1994. Before that, at Ford and Lincoln, he was mainly responsible for behind-the-scenes work, including the construction of the dealer network, sales planning and customer experience. It is based on this work record that in an exclusive interview with him, it can be seen that he attaches great importance to the channel and is determined to reshape.

"First of all, we have strengthened communication with dealers, optimized the process, and simplified the previously cumbersome and restrictive requirements and methods, so that dealers can understand the rhythm and plans of Jaguar Land Rover this year at a glance. Secondly, we cooperate with dealers to carry out marketing activities, such as Land Rover’s new Yunnan-Tibet line, Jaguar’s Saigan Carnival and other innovative experience marketing activities, forming a linkage from the central to the region, enhancing consumers’ awareness of Jaguar Land Rover in all aspects, and expanding brand influence." Zhu Hengli told reporters that in response to the current market situation, Jaguar Land Rover is vigorously carrying out dealer training. Not only can it improve the efficiency of staff, but also reduce the attrition rate of personnel, and also improve the business ability of frontline personnel through training.

In order to implement the adjustment policy as soon as possible, Jaguar Land Rover is expediting in-depth communication with every dealer in China. At present, Zhu Hengli has personally gone into battle to communicate with all dealers in Shanghai one by one, evaluate the overall profitability of dealers, and provide support and assistance to different dealers based on the results.

In addition to channel remodeling, as a distinctive British luxury car brand, Jaguar Land Rover is also committed to accurately delivering its brand concept to Chinese consumers.

In terms of brand marketing activities, as of mid-August, the "Jaguar Circuit Carnival" event has held more than 100 events in 73 cities, with more than 25,000 participants; the "Land Rover All-Terrain Academy x Land Rover All-Terrain Driving Camp" event has held 240 events as of the end of August, covering a total of 134 cities, with a total of more than 8,500 participants. The start of these activities has deepened Chinese consumers’ awareness of Jaguar Land Rover’s brand power.

In addition, according to Zhu Hengli, Jaguar Land Rover is also constantly incorporating the needs and preferences of Chinese consumers into the design and development of its products. For example, Chinese consumers have relatively high requirements for rear space, so Jaguar’s cars are generally designed to be lengthened. But for Jaguar, the lengthened wheelbase cannot affect the vehicle’s handling performance, so for example, the XEL car has more rear space, but the handling performance and driving texture are no different from those of the British XE model.

"The same is true for Land Rover. At the beginning of the launch of the new generation of Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, considering that young consumers in China are more concerned about smart and high-tech configurations, because we specially launched models with different configurations for the Chinese market. This is also one of the changes made for the Chinese market." Zhu Hengli said.

Thanks to Jaguar Land Rover’s self-adjustment, the market has given positive feedback to the British luxury car brand after entering the second half of the year. Data show that Jaguar Land Rover’s sales rose by 40% year-on-year in July, 17% year-on-year in August, and 28% year-on-year in July-August. More importantly, Jaguar Land Rover’s dealers also improved their profitability by 10% year-on-year in July-August and maintained reasonable inventory.

Not only that, but next, Jaguar Land Rover will also increase its product offensive. According to the plan, Jaguar Land Rover expects to usher in 30 product updates by the end of 2021. Among them, in addition to the new Jaguar XEL, which will be launched within the year, a new generation of Discovery will be launched in the first quarter of next year, and a new generation of Defenders will be introduced in the second quarter.

And when it comes to electrification, Jaguar Land Rover is not at a disadvantage. Last year, Jaguar Land Rover launched the Range Rover Sport PHEV model. At the press conference of the Chengdu Auto Show, the Range Rover Sport also launched the annual model. At the same time, the new generation of Range Rover Evoque is also equipped with a 48V mild hybrid system. Jaguar released the first pure electric luxury SUV model last year, the Jaguar I-PACE. In fact, Jaguar Land Rover has already announced that from 2020, every model will be available in electrified models.

In the case of the overall domestic car market environment being cold, Jaguar Land Rover was still able to achieve two consecutive months of growth, which is enough to highlight the "true ability" of counterattacking the trend. I believe that Jaguar Land Rover NIO will also burst out stronger stamina.