Jaguar Land Rover captures Chinese hearts and minds

Investment in innovation and partnership-building drives iconic automaker's sustainable growth

1 Last week was full of excitement for iconic British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover as it unveiled its newest model, the F-PACE, also embarked on a Sino-UK Football and Cultural Exchange and participated in a UK-China Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

At the 2015 Frankfurt International Motor Show, Jaguar's first SUV, the F-PACE, arrived on the world stage in style.

Driven by British stunt driver Terry Grant, the new vehicle defied gravity to set a new Guinness world record for the largest ever loop-the-loop performed by a car.

As well as providing a memorable entrance for the F-PACE, the stunt also highlighted that this year is the Jaguar brand's 80th birthday.

The F-PACE, which has drawn considerable attention from the world's media, was inspired by Jaguar's breakthrough C-X17 concept model and developed using the lightweight aluminum architecture in which Jaguar Land Rover is the globally recognized leader.

Jaguar says the performance SUV, which is expected to enter the China market in early 2016, has been designed and engineered to offer the agility, responsiveness and refinement that all Jaguars are renowned for, together with unrivalled dynamics and everyday usability.

2 Sustainable growth

This year, the British carmaker is spending 37 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) on automotive research and development in its pursuit of product development. Worldwide, the company is intending to make 50 product actions - launching new or upgraded models - over the next five years.

To support this, Jaguar Land Rover is investing in the 1.5-billion-yuan National Automotive Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. The center will be a hub for research and development of new designs and technologies.

The huge investment that Jaguar Land Rover continues to make in research and development and product creation underscores its commitment to growth for the long-term, Ralph Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, outlined in a speech at the Frankfurt International Auto Show.

"Our plans have been geared towards sustainable and profitable growth. We are delivering exciting new models that will take these two famous British brands to a new level of global success," Speth said.

3 Social responsibility

For Jaguar Land Rover, corporate social responsibility is an important way of giving back to communities and continuing its development in China.

In 2014, the company invested 50 million yuan to establish the Jaguar Land Rover China Children& Youth Dream in partnership with the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation.

One of many projects under the Dream Fund, the Premier Skills - Jaguar Football Campus, is giving 8,000 Chinese children access to top-level football and referee coaching this year in partnership with the British Council.

The ongoing project has already proved a success by helping school students improve their football skills and English-language capabilities, and enjoy the benefits of exercise on a weekly basis.

Last week, around 30 young Chinese players from the leading school teams and the best of the Football Campus's referees were taken to the United Kingdom by Richard Shore, acting regional president of Jaguar Land Rover Greater China.

Through football and cultural activities, the Jaguar Sino-UK Football & Cultural Exchange inspired the children to connect with other cultures and pursue their dreams.

"The exchange is a wonderful opportunity for these children to broaden their horizons, get to know their British counterparts and learn from the best of British football," said Ni Jian, charge d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy to the UK, who hosted the children.

4 UK-China partnerships

In addition to football, innovation and entrepreneurship help China and the UK connect.

During a visit to the UK last week, Liu Yandong, vice premier of China, attended the UK-China Forum for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Cardiff where she was joined by two companies that are leading the way in innovation and entrepreneurship-Jaguar Land Rover and Huawei.

At the forum, Shore spoke about how innovation partnerships are key drivers for the company's global expansion.

He described how investing in collaboration, innovation, research and education is vital for Jaguar Land Rover if the company is to continue to build on the success it has realized in recent years.

"The many UK-China exchanges this year enable us to identify organizations that can support our innovation goals and ambition to bring extraordinary products to our customers in China and around the world," Shore said.

This was endorsed by Liu, who emphasized that the Chinese government is eager to deepen and broaden innovation cooperation with Britain as the two countries enter a "golden era" in their relationship.

duxiaoying1@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/21/2015 page19)