JLR Owned Dealerships Part of Jaguar Re-launch
Jaguar Land Rover will open a network of manufacturer-owned stores as part of its launch of a new all-electric Jaguar range in 2025.
Soon after a planned move to agency agreements by 2024 for its UK retailers, JLR will open a global network of owned dealerships. The manufacturer claims these will “completely change perception of the Jaguar brand and the automotive buying/ownership experience”.
The plan for a global network of JLR-owned stores has been revealed in a job advert by the manufacturer for a Head of Global Retail Operations. Confirming the move, a Jaguar Land Rover spokesman said: “In 2025 we will launch a completely new all-electric Jaguar range. Ahead of the launch we are reimagining every aspect of our Jaguar business including how we recreate the brand, and how and where we engage with our customers. We will give further updates in due course.”
Changing Perception
The retail operations job advert sets out that the incumbent will “define and build the systems, processes and tools required to operate global retail at scale.” The successful candidate is expected to continually improve the client experience, store performance and brand perception via a test, learn and innovate approach. Overall the individual will be responsible for “enabling and supporting the rollout, operation and consistently high performance of a global network of owned stores offering an omni-channel, luxury client experience.” Jaguar aim to completely change perception of their brand and the automotive buying/ownership experience.
Concerns Raised
At the time of the agency announcement, some retailers voiced concerns about the lack of future plans for the Jaguar brand and its ability to generate profitable sales. A relaunch of the Jaguar brand could go some way to solving this issue.
JLR is understood to have considered a small network of brand super-centres in the past. However, these would have been owned and operated by retail groups. It is unclear how many manufacturer-owned stores each country will have and when the first of the new sites will open, or how they will operate alongside the retail group-owned Arch sites.