Jaguar Land Rover is working on a Jag as small as a VW Golf as it lays down long-term plans to take on the German giants of the automotive industry.
Those plans could also result in Britain’s biggest motor industry employer opening a factory in the United States.
After a barnstorming Paris Motor Show, in which the West Midlands- based group gave the first public showings of the Jaguar XE — the long-awaited so-called Baby Jag — and the new Land Rover Discovery Sport, Andy Goss, the group head of sales, indicated that the company would compete across the range with rivals producing premium-priced cars.
The Jaguar XE has been launched into a market dominated by BMW’s bestselling 3 series and where competition also comes from the Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C class. Jaguar already has larger cars and executive models in the XF, XJ and XK ranges, as well as the critically acclaimed F-Type sports car. Next out of its stable will be a crossover model — an upright estate car — that it is testing as the C-X17.
While the group has not yet officially sanctioned any new models, Mr Goss pointed to one direction in which the company was thinking. “The premium market is coming down in size, so why wouldn’t we?” he said of manufacturers seeking to produce smaller expensive cars. “Have we got everything under investigation? Yes. Is it doable? Is it feasible? You bet. It’s a huge market.”
Jaguar Land Rover has doubled in size to produce more than 400,000 vehicles a year since it was bought by Tata Motors, of India, from Ford six years ago. It remains a fraction of the size of BMW at two million annual sales, but is growing far more quickly.
“We plan to do the next 200,000 [additional annual sales] quite quickly and ultimately the target has to be [annual sales in] seven figures,” Mr Goss said.
Sales of Jaguar models, at fewer than 80,000, make up a fifth of group sales. The plan is for the XE to be its bestseller and to raise that number to nearer 150,000. That will include a concerted attempt to get Jaguars into car fleets, a corporate market in which the group has been weak.
New models in the pipeline will include green versions of existing Jaguars, putting plug-in hybrid petrol-electric systems into models to reach tightening emissions regulations.
“Plug-in hybrids and electrification of vehicles are major challenges, but they will be de rigueur for the industry and for us,” Mr Goss said.
He said that China, where the group is opening a new factory this month, and America would remain the group’s leading markets. Jaguar Land Rover is pursuing plans to open new plants in Brazil and Saudi Arabia.
“We can do a lot more in the US, in manufacturing and in financial services,” Mr Goss said. Asked if that might include opening a plant in America, he said: “Clearly.” 2008 MY Supercharged
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