China Daily - Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, came to this year's Beijing International Automotive Exhibition on the heels of a stellar year for the British luxury carmaker, which reported stunning growth in China.
The company sold more than 42,000 vehicles in China last year, a year-on-year surge of 61 percent. The company predicts it will by far exceed this record over 2012, having already moved nearly 18,000 vehicles in China in the first quarter, more than double the number in the same period a year ago.
"The team is doing an outstanding job and it is clear that Chinese customers like our products", Speth said.
China is currently the third-biggest market for Jaguar Land Rover. Speth said that he assumes "it will not take very long until it (the Chinese market) moves into first position."
Local production
In a bid to meet the rising demand for its vehicles in the Chinese market, Jaguar Land Rover announced on March 21 that it has made an agreement with domestic automaker Chery to set up a joint venture and produce vehicles locally.
"Our company settled on Chery because we felt it offered the best opportunity for a mutually beneficial relationship," Speth said. "The decision was based on various factors: its people, its management, its spirit and also our mutual understanding of future business."
While preparing for local production, Jaguar Land Rover is rapidly expanding its dealer network in China. The company has appointed 125 dealerships across China, of which 89 have already been put into operation.
"We are continuing to grow", Speth said, noting that the markets, especially in the small and mid-sized cities, still have huge potential.
Additionally, Jaguar Land Rover has established two training centers in China to educate its local staff and is about to open a third one this year in the southern city of Guangzhou.
It also operates five parts distribution centers in the country to facilitate after-sales services.
Strong lineup
At the ongoing auto show, Jaguar Land Rover has a strong lineup, which features the global debut of the XJ Ultimate and the Range Rover Evoque Special Edition with Victoria Beckham.
Speth said that the company is delivering tailor-made vehicles to China, designing and engineering cars according to the requirements of Chinese customers.
With enhanced rear seating equipment, for example, the Jaguar XJ Ultimate is a good demonstration of the company's custom strategy for China, he said.
The luxury saloon represents the "pinnacle of luxury", with lots of refined details, such as a rear business table made of aluminum with piano black trim, a champagne chiller between the rear seats and iPads housed in leather-trimmed docks on the back of the front seats, according to the product brochure.
Jaguar also displays its new 2.0-litre I4 turbocharged engine and 3.0-litre V6 supercharged petrol engine at the auto show, both of which have been designed to offer better fuel efficiency, in line with Chinese tastes.
Increasing its portfolio with more products offering small-displacement engines follows the success of the 3.0 liter XJ from Jaguar that was very well received when it went on sale in China in April 2011.
Of all the Land Rovers on display, the star is undoubtedly the Range Rover Evoque Special Edition with Victoria Beckham, co-designed by the company's R&D team and British fashion designer and former singer Victoria Beckham.
There will only be 200 models available worldwide from November this year, with Chinese customers receiving the first deliveries.
The smallest and most fuel-efficient Range Rover model built by the company, the Evoque is selling well in China, with nearly 4,900 units moved in the first quarter of this year.
Land Rover imports its full product lineup to China, including Evoque, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Freelander 2, Discovery 4 and Defender.
Source:gasgoo.com