Land Rover

Britain’s car industry may never be able to boost the level of local content to over half in its cars to meet the standards set in some bilateral trade agreements, the chief executive of the country’s biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover told Reuters. Only around 40 percent of the parts that go into the average British-built car are made domestically and some trade deals require between 50 and 55 percent local content, a factor which could be crucial for post-Brexit trade.

Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles today reported its best ever February retail sales of 40,978 vehicles, up 9% on February 2016, thanks to strong sales performances in China and North America. The company sold 88,671 vehicles in the first two months of 2016, 6% up on the same period in the prior year. Retail sales for the month of February were up year-on-year across many key regions: 40% in China, 16% in North America and 14% in the UK. Europe and other Overseas markets were down 2% and 7% respectively year-on-year.

Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) has designed and engineered a bespoke version of the new Land Rover Discovery for use by the Austrian Red Cross. Project Hero was presented to the world’s media for the first time today at the Geneva Motor Show. Project Hero is an advanced communication vehicle, created to support Jaguar Land Rover’s partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world’s largest humanitarian network. SVO collaborated with the Austrian Red Cross to develop a unique Land Rover that will be trialled by their emergency response teams. It is hoped it will help the Red Cross save lives by speeding up response times to disasters. 

Natarajan Chandrasekaran has been appointed Director and Chairman of the Jaguar Land Rover Automotive plc board. Mr Chandrasekaran is Chairman of Tata Sons and also holds the following positions: Director on the board of the Reserve Bank of India, board member of Tata Steel Limited and board member of TCS Foundation. Note: Press release courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover.

The new Velar fills the space in the Range Rover family between the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport. Refined for every occasion, for every terrain, Velar uses unique sustainable materials and advanced engineering to continue Land Rover’s drive to go Above and Beyond. Created from a clean sheet using Jaguar Land Rover’s Lightweight Aluminium Architecture, it is safer, stronger, cleaner and improves driving performance. The Range Rover Velar brings a new dimension of glamor, modernity, and elegance to the Range Rover family. Designed to fill the white space between Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport, Velar offers levels of luxury, refinement and all-terrain capability never before seen in the mid-size SUV segment. This is a new type of Range Rover for a new type of customer.

InMotion Ventures, the venture capital business powered by Jaguar Land Rover, has completed a seed investment in enterprise-focused ride-sharing platform SPLT. SPLT is a carpool service that enables employees at large organizations to connect and share the drive to and from work, using their own vehicles. The platform’s ride-matching algorithm allows lifts to be dynamically arranged in seconds within a trusted community of commuters, saving time and money for both employees and employers as well as combatting traffic and parking issues.

Low on specifics but big on drama, Land Rover has announced the introduction of the Range Rover Velar which will be unveiled next week.  Best just to quote the full announcement in its short completeness. The luxury SUV was created in 1970 when Land Rover launched the original Range Rover. Almost half a century later that spirit of innovation continues with the introduction of the fourth member of the Range Rover family, to be unveiled on 1 March 2017. Elegant simplicity, a visually reductive approach and pioneering consumer technology are the hallmarks of the new Range Rover Velar. Land Rover Chief Design Officer, Gerry McGovern, said: “We call the Velar the avant garde Range Rover.  It brings a new dimension of glamour, modernity and elegance to the brand. The Range Rover Velar changes everything.” Refined for every occasion, for every terrain, […]

Jaguar Land Rover Automotive plc, the UK’s largest car manufacturer, this past Tuesday reported a 13% increase in revenue to £6.5bn with strong customer demand in the three months to December 31, 2016. Total retail sales of 149,288 vehicles, up 8.5% year-on-year, were a record for the third quarter with higher volumes in China, (up 38.4% including sales from the China joint venture), North America (up 19.8%) and Europe (up 7.0%) led by strong sales of Discovery Sport, Jaguar F-PACE and the Jaguar XF (including the new long wheelbase Jaguar XFL in China).

We don’t often cover advertisements here on Just British, but this one for the new Land Rover Discovery is kind of fun. In the ad, Olympic hero Sir Ben Ainslie battles a desert sandstorm to reach his Land Rover BAR sailing team. The 60-second advert was directed by Ridley Scott Associates’ Jake Scott and will be aired for the first time in the UK during the break of ITV’s coverage of the RBS Six Nations’ game between Ireland and Italy, at 2pm local time on Saturday 11 February. Later that day, on the same channel, the advert will be shown again during The Voice at 8pm local time. It celebrates the new Discovery going on sale in the UK with prices from £43,495.

Salon Rétromobile 2017 will see the world debut presentation of the next in the Reborn series of expertly sourced and comprehensively restored Classic Land Rovers. Range Rover Reborn is a new program offering prospective customers the unique opportunity to purchase an original and highly collectible vintage Range Rover, direct from Land Rover Classic in the UK. The launch of Range Rover Reborn builds on the successful introduction of Land Rover Series I Reborn last year.

Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC today reported January 2017 U.S. sales: Jaguar sales were 2,939 units, an 117 percent increase from 1,352 units in January 2016; Land Rover sales reached 6,163 units, up 9 percent from record sales of 5,655 units in January 2016; Jaguar Land Rover January U.S. sales for both brands hit 9,102 units, a 30 percent increase from 7,007 units in January 2016; making it the best ever Jaguar Land Rover January sales month. After coming off a record-setting year in 2016, we are starting 2017 with a successful January sales month for Jaguar Land Rover and are proud to report a 30 percent sales increase. This strong performance is a testament to our expanded product offering, highly desirable brands and dedicated retailer network. We are in prime position for sales growth in the coming year. […]

Jaguar Land Rover has once again been named the largest automotive manufacturer in Britain, accounting for more than 30% of all domestic car production last year. The news follows today’s announcement from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) that UK car manufacturers set a new record in 2016, producing 1,727,471 vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover’s three vehicle manufacturing plants in Liverpool and the West Midlands increased the company’s UK production output 8% over the previous year to 544,401. Jaguar Land Rover vehicles account for five of the top ten British best-sellers globally.

Land Rover has issued a recall for 797 of its 2017 model-year Discovery Sport and 2016-17 model-year Range Rover Evoque SUVs fitted with the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine and automatic transmission, over concerns a wiring fault could cause several issues including loss of electric steering, engine cut-out, or even a fire. The British manufacturer reports the engine harness may have been routed incorrectly and as a result could contact the water charge air cooler bracket.

The UK’s largest automotive manufacturer is pioneering a new way of buying cars across its global network, using Virtual Reality so that customers won’t need to wait for newly launched vehicles to arrive in their local showroom. Jaguar Land Rover’s world-leading Virtual Reality Experience packs will be introduced across retailers by the end of this month to immerse customers in each new vehicle the company launches.

30 years after the launch of the original Range Rover in North America, Land Rover has launched its newest model, the 550-hp, standard wheelbase, Range Rover SVAutobiography Dynamic, with sales of the ultra-luxury SUV in the U.S. starting this month. After almost five decades of Range Rover history worldwide, Land Rover is showcasing the evolution of its iconic luxury SUV through four generations with a unique animation lasting 120 seconds. The specially commissioned video marks key dates in the history of the legendary SUV, showing how today’s Range Rover retains many of the design hallmarks established by the 1970 Classic as its latest derivative, the SVAutobiography Dynamic, begins sales in North America and around the world.

Not to do another Land Rover video so soon, but … well … our video of the week this time is from Land Rover! But it is about Range Rovers, so that is different. Two minutes is not long, but it’s enough time for Land Rover to celebrate a motoring icon. The Range Rover has pioneered design, refinement and engineering innovation since 1970 and Land Rover has showcased the evolution of its luxury SUV through four generations with a unique animation lasting only 120 seconds. The specially commissioned visual has been created to mark key dates in the history of the legendary SUV, as production of the original two-door model ended 23 years ago this month (January) and SVAutobiography Dynamic goes on sale around the world.

Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles achieved its best ever full-year global sales in 2016, selling more than one car every minute with retails of 583,313 vehicles, up 20% on the prior year. This is the company’s seventh successive year of growth in sales, with retails in 2016 almost triple the 2009 figure. Sales in December were up 12% compared to the same month last year, with retails of 55,375. Retail volumes were up 36% for the month in China – its strongest monthly performance on record. Jaguar Land Rover’s global performance for the full year 2016 shows a balanced regional portfolio with record retail sales in the UK, North America and Europe.

Jaguar Land Rover has announced a closer partnership with CloudCar, including the adoption of its next-generation cloud services platform and a US$15m minority investment in the company. CloudCar, based in Palo Alto, California, is a world-leading developer of connected driver experiences. With machine-learning capabilities tied to various sensors in the car, its cloud services platform allows car manufacturers to use its capability – including improved voice-activated applications and personalisation – while still maintaining their brand identity and retaining ownership of data.