Passion for British marque in China boosts confidence at JLR

British premium carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is confident of its business prospects in the Chinese market in 2021, thanks to a sales recovery, growing lineup and dealers' enhanced profitability.

Richard Shore, president of Jaguar Land Rover China and Chery Jaguar Land Rover Integrated Marketing Sales and Service, said COVID-19 has affected the business of many companies. But it turned for the better when the overall auto market started to recover in April.

Jaguar Land Rover has seen a demand increase in the country. Its sales in the third quarter were up 14.6 percent from the second.

Deliveries in September soared 28.5 percent from the same month last year, and a 27 percent increase year-on-year was recorded in October.

"One important thing is that we did not seek growth for the sake of growth. We made sure that our dealers have a continuous profit margin," Shore said.

He added dealers had tough days when the pandemic was at its peak in China. The carmaker held in-depth exchanges with them and decided not to rush, to ensure the dealers would be profitable throughout the year.

"We stress win-win results and building confidence, which includes both customers' confidence and dealers' confidence," he said.

The results are partially attributable to the products the company has launched in China, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The Jaguar F-TYPE debuted in April and deliveries started in May. The Land Rover Defender 110 was launched in July and since then the carmaker has received more than 5,000 orders for the retro off-roader.

At the Guangzhou auto show that concluded in November, the carmaker showcased a number of models. They included the All New Defender 90, the F-PACE SUV, the MY 21 Range Rover Sport and the New Discovery Sport P300e, which are expected to be popular in cities that have license plate quotas.

"As you can see, we have been introducing new models throughout the year, which would help ensure our dealers' profitability. And their performance has made us confident in 2021," Shore said.

Shore expected the overall market to perform better in the first half of 2021 than this year, predicting a sales increase of 5-10 percent year-on-year.

"There are some uncertainties, but there is also good news as well. So we believe the global economy will recover gradually and we are optimistic about it."

Talking about the Defender, the company said it represents the authentic off-road gene of Land Rover.

Henry Zhu, vice-president of Jaguar Land Rover China and Chery Jaguar Land Rover Integrated Marketing Sales and Service, said people will not know how versatile the Defender can be before having a test drive.

Zhu drove a Defender 110 in October from Shanghai to Tibet, traversing different kinds of terrain on the 5,000-kilometer trip.

"On expressways, you feel like you are driving a Range Rover and on rugged roads it is agile and powerful. What I want to stress is that it is an all-terrain off-roader with extraordinary capabilities and versatility," Zhu said.

Recently, the Defender 110 has won many authoritative automotive awards around the world. They include the 2021 SUV of the Year by Motor Trend, a top auto magazine in the United States; the 2020 Car of the Year and the Unstoppable Force award by Top Gear, a famous auto media outlet in the United Kingdom; and the 2021 China Design Car of the Year.

The judges of the latter competition said, "A heady mixture of go-anywhere capability, refinement, style and luxury, the surprising Defender wins our hearts and our calipers."

Shore said the Defender shows Land Rover's expertise and knowhow in off-road capabilities.

Examples include the all-terrain response system, which allows drivers to select one of nine modes that optimize performance on a variety of different surfaces, and the "transparent bonnet" that creates a see-through view of the terrain, breaking new ground in visual driver assistance. It works via a camera in the grille projecting video into the driver's head-up display.

Land Rover's technology is keeping up with the age. For example, the InControl OS 2.0 operating system in the Defender can be updated automatically to offer the latest functions to drivers, Zhu said.

He said the Defender 90 will hit the market in 2021 and he did not expect orders for the Defender 110 to fall.

"Our customers have a huge demand for Defender vehicles. For them, the name Defender means more than a vehicle. And we hope the passion for the Defender will continue," Zhu said.

Jaguar Land Rover is also offering new energy vehicles to meet the growing demand in metropolises, especially those that limit license plates.

The British company is one of the first traditional carmakers to launch electrified models. It has developed a mixed portfolio of electric cars, plug-in hybrids and hybrids, including the I-PACE as well as Range Rover Sport and Discovery Sport plug-in hybrids.

"We hope to offer our customers more choices. They buy an electrified Land Rover because they want to buy a Land Rover. It is not that any electrified model will do," Shore said.